Alternative reproductive tactics, sperm mobility, and oxidative stress in Carollia perspicillata (Seba's short-tailed bat)
Nicolas Jean Fasel, Charlotte Wesseling, Ahana Aurora Fernandez, Armelle Vallat, Gaëtan Glauser, Fabrice Helfenstein & Heinz Richner
| Résumé |
In social systems with alternative reproductive tactics, sneakers
face a stronger sperm competition than harem males, and hence are
predicted to allocate more resources to ejaculates. Antioxidants
can protect sperm against oxidative stress, and thus their
allocation to the ejaculate may depend on social status. In this
study on the frugivorous bat Carollia perspicillata, we assessed
for harem and sneaker males, four sperm mobility traits, blood and
ejaculate markers of the redox balance, and the ejaculate to blood
ratios of the redox markers. Under higher sperm competition,
sneaker males should allocate proportionally more antioxidant
resources to the protection of sperm than harem males. In contrast,
harem males should favour pre-copulatory functions, which comprise
the protection of blood. We found significantly higher sperm
velocity and sperm survival in sneakers. There was no correlation
between sperm mobility and sperm enzymatic antioxidant activity or
ejaculate levels of lipid peroxidation (oxidative damage).
Ejaculate levels of lipid peroxidation and sperm survival showed a
significantly positive correlation, which could be attributed to
the role of reactive oxygen species for sperm capacitation. Harem
and sneaker males showed similar levels of redox balance markers in ejaculate and blood. However, harem males showed a higher ratio of oxidized over reduced glutathione in blood, which may indicate higher cellular stress due to higher metabolism. Overall, our findings suggest that sneakers of C. perspicillata compensate for a stronger sperm competition by higher sperm mobility. |
| Mots-clés |
bats, Oxidative stress, oxidative status, soma/germline allocation trade-off, male reproductive tactics, alternative reproductive tactics |
| Citation | Fasel, N. J., Wesseling, C., Fernandez, A. A., Vallat, A., Glauser, G., Helfenstein, F., & Richner, H. (2017). Alternative reproductive tactics, sperm mobility, and oxidative stress in Carollia perspicillata (Seba's short-tailed bat). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 71, 11-23. |
| Type | Article de périodique (Anglais) |
| Date de publication | 1-1-2017 |
| Nom du périodique | Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology |
| Volume | 71 |
| Pages | 11-23 |
| Liée au projet | Oxidative stress in avian semen: causes and consequences ... |