Holt William V, Fazeli Alireza
Academic Unit of Reproductive and Developmental Medicine, University of Sheffield, Level 4, Jessop Wing, Tree Root Walk, Sheffield S10 2SF, UK
Academic Unit of Reproductive and Developmental Medicine, University of Sheffield, Level 4, Jessop Wing, Tree Root Walk, Sheffield S10 2SF, UK.
Mol Hum Reprod. 2015 Jun;21(6):491-501. doi: 10.1093/molehr/gav012. Epub 2015 Mar 9.
Most male mammals produce far more spermatozoa on a daily basis than is strictly necessary for reproduction and females have evolved mechanisms that prevent all but a small minority from reaching the vicinity of their oocytes. One potential explanation for the stringent selection is that females have developed these mechanisms as a way of avoiding polyspermy as well as exercising post-copulatory choice over the characteristics of the fertilizing spermatozoon. Relatively little is known about how these processes would operate, but here we use evidence from biochemical, molecular and genetic studies of sperm transport in support of a hypothesis proposing that the female reproductive tract can read and interpret a spermatozoon's 'molecular passport' or genetic signature. Such a signature would permit only a highly selected sperm population to reach and fertilize the oocyte. Moreover, the selection criteria might not only be concerned with successful fertilizing ability, but could also be tailored to suit the genetic qualities of individual females.
大多数雄性哺乳动物每天产生的精子数量远远超过繁殖所严格必需的数量，而雌性则进化出了一些机制，除了极少数精子外，能阻止其他所有精子接近其卵母细胞。对这种严格筛选的一种潜在解释是，雌性进化出这些机制是为了避免多精受精，同时也是为了对受精精子的特征进行交配后选择。关于这些过程如何运作，我们所知相对较少，但在这里，我们利用精子运输的生化、分子和遗传学研究证据，来支持一个假说，即雌性生殖道能够读取和解读精子的“分子护照”或基因特征。这样的特征将只允许经过高度筛选的精子群体到达并使卵母细胞受精。此外，筛选标准可能不仅关乎成功受精的能力，还可能是为了适应个体雌性的基因特质而量身定制的。
