ArticlePLoS biology2026
Evidence for genetically-based sperm discrimination in the vaginal tract of a primate species.
Article in PLoS biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Female genetic variation controlling timing of mating plug ejection inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Comparing the genomic inbreeding of an isolated rhesus macaque study population to wild populations.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Microbial Contributions to Primate Reproduction.Evolutionary anthropology · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Females influence offspring paternity through diverse pre- and post-copulatory mechanisms. Sperm discrimination-the differential physiological response to ejaculates based on male or sperm characteristics-can bias fertilization outcomes, but in vivo evidence of this process in large-bodied mammals is lacking. Here, in a study of nine females and four males, we tested whether two aspects of female physiology that affect sperm survival-vaginal immune response and pH-are modulated by male genetic makeup in a non-human primate, the olive baboon (Papio anubis). Our findings suggest post-copulatory differences in vaginal gene expression and pH, with the strongest immune responses and largest pH decreases, harmful to sperm, exhibited by females mating with genetically similar males. These findings are consistent with genetically-based post-copulatory mate discrimination, offering new insights into how interactions between male gametes and the female reproductive tract may shape conception probability in primates.
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Registered trials
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