TY - JOUR
T1 - Condition-dependent mortality exacerbates male (but not female) reproductive senescence and the potential for sexual conflict
AU - Sultanova, Zahida
AU - García-Roa, Roberto
AU - Carazo, Pau
N1 - Funding Information:
PC was supported by a Ramón y Cajal Fellowship (RYC‐2013‐12998), Plan Nacional I+D+i Excelencia Research Grants (CGL2014‐58722‐P and CGL2017‐89052‐P), a SEJI research grant by the Generalitat Valenciana (SEJI/2018/037) and a 2018 Leonardo Grant for Researchers and Cultural Creators from the BBVA Foundation. ZS was supported by the ‘Atracció de Talent' grant (Universitat de València). RGR was supported by a MINECO Excelencia (CGL2017‐89052‐P to P.C.) co‐funded by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), a SEJI research grant by the Generalitat Valenciana (SEJI/2018/037 to P.C.) and a 2018 Leonardo Grant for Researchers and Cultural Creators from the BBVA Foundation (to P.C.).
Funding Information:
PC was supported by a Ram?n y Cajal Fellowship (RYC-2013-12998), Plan Nacional I+D+i Excelencia Research Grants (CGL2014-58722-P and CGL2017-89052-P), a SEJI research grant by the Generalitat Valenciana (SEJI/2018/037) and a 2018 Leonardo Grant for Researchers and Cultural Creators from the BBVA Foundation. ZS was supported by the ?Atracci? de Talent' grant (Universitat de Val?ncia). RGR was supported by a MINECO Excelencia (CGL2017-89052-P to P.C.) co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), a SEJI research grant by the Generalitat Valenciana (SEJI/2018/037 to P.C.) and a 2018 Leonardo Grant for Researchers and Cultural Creators from the BBVA Foundation (to P.C.).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2020 European Society For Evolutionary Biology
PY - 2020/8/1
Y1 - 2020/8/1
N2 - Disentangling the relationship between age and reproduction is central to understand life-history evolution, and recent evidence shows that considering condition-dependent mortality is a crucial piece of this puzzle. For example, nonrandom mortality of ‘low-condition’ individuals can lead to an increase in average lifespan. However, selective disappearance of such low-condition individuals may also affect reproductive senescence at the population level due to trade-offs between physiological functions related to survival/lifespan and the maintenance of reproductive functions. Here, we address the idea that condition-dependent extrinsic mortality (i.e. simulated predation) may increase the age-related decline in male reproductive success and with it the potential for sexual conflict, by comparing reproductive ageing in Drosophila melanogaster male/female cohorts exposed (or not) to condition-dependent simulated predation across time. Although female reproductive senescence was not affected by predation, male reproductive senescence was considerably higher under predation, due mainly to an accelerated decline in offspring viability of ‘surviving’ males with age. This sex-specific effect suggests that condition-dependent extrinsic mortality can exacerbate survival-reproduction trade-offs in males, which are typically under stronger condition-dependent selection than females. Interestingly, condition-dependent extrinsic mortality did not affect mating success, hinting that accelerated reproductive senescence is due to a decrease in male post-copulatory fitness components. Our results support the recent proposal that male ageing can be an important source of sexual conflict, further suggesting this effect could be exacerbated under more natural conditions.
AB - Disentangling the relationship between age and reproduction is central to understand life-history evolution, and recent evidence shows that considering condition-dependent mortality is a crucial piece of this puzzle. For example, nonrandom mortality of ‘low-condition’ individuals can lead to an increase in average lifespan. However, selective disappearance of such low-condition individuals may also affect reproductive senescence at the population level due to trade-offs between physiological functions related to survival/lifespan and the maintenance of reproductive functions. Here, we address the idea that condition-dependent extrinsic mortality (i.e. simulated predation) may increase the age-related decline in male reproductive success and with it the potential for sexual conflict, by comparing reproductive ageing in Drosophila melanogaster male/female cohorts exposed (or not) to condition-dependent simulated predation across time. Although female reproductive senescence was not affected by predation, male reproductive senescence was considerably higher under predation, due mainly to an accelerated decline in offspring viability of ‘surviving’ males with age. This sex-specific effect suggests that condition-dependent extrinsic mortality can exacerbate survival-reproduction trade-offs in males, which are typically under stronger condition-dependent selection than females. Interestingly, condition-dependent extrinsic mortality did not affect mating success, hinting that accelerated reproductive senescence is due to a decrease in male post-copulatory fitness components. Our results support the recent proposal that male ageing can be an important source of sexual conflict, further suggesting this effect could be exacerbated under more natural conditions.
KW - life-history evolution
KW - natural selection
KW - sexual selection and conflicts
KW - trade-offs
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85085522244&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/jeb.13636
DO - 10.1111/jeb.13636
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85085522244
VL - 33
SP - 1086
EP - 1096
JO - Journal of Evolutionary Biology
JF - Journal of Evolutionary Biology
SN - 1010-061X
IS - 8
ER -