Increased sperm production linked to competition in the maternal social environment: Maternal effects on sperm production



Hobson, L ORCID: 0000-0002-4784-5436, Hurst, JL ORCID: 0000-0002-3728-9624 and Stockley, P ORCID: 0000-0003-1593-5848
(2020) Increased sperm production linked to competition in the maternal social environment: Maternal effects on sperm production. Royal Society Open Science, 7 (12).

Access the full-text of this item by clicking on the Open Access link.

Abstract

Maternal or early life effects may prepare offspring for similar social conditions to those experienced by their mothers. For males, the ability to achieve mating and fertilization success is a key social challenge. Competitive conditions may therefore favour increased body size or ejaculate production in male offspring. We tested this experimentally by comparing reproductive traits of adult male bank voles (Myodes glareolus), whose mothers had experienced contrasting encounter regimes with female conspecifics while breeding. We found that daily sperm production rates and epididymis mass were significantly higher when dams had experienced more frequent encounters with female conspecifics. This response to maternal and early life experience was specific to sperm production and storage, with no evidence for effects on male body mass or the size of testes and accessory reproductive glands. Our findings reveal a potentially adaptive effect of maternal and early life experience on the development of sperm production, which is worthy of wider investigation.

Item Type: Article
Divisions: Faculty of Health and Life Sciences
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 26 May 2021 15:00
Last Modified: 18 Jan 2023 22:44
DOI: 10.1098/rsos.201171
Open Access URL: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.201171
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3124126