Dávila Francisco, Aron Serge
Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Avenue F.D. Roosevelt 50, CP160/12, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.
Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Avenue F.D. Roosevelt 50, CP160/12, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.
J Insect Physiol. 2017 Jul;100:71-76. doi: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2017.05.012. Epub 2017 May 27.
Sperm cells are costly to produce; diet should therefore affect sperm number and/or viability. In non-social insects and vertebrates, there is compelling evidence that diet influences sperm production. Less is known about this relationship in eusocial hymenopterans (all ants and some bees and wasps), whose mating systems impose unique selective pressures on sperm production. Males face physiological constraints: they acquire all of the resources they will use in future reproductive efforts as larvae and emerge from the pupal stage with a fixed, non-renewable amount of sperm. Furthermore, males die shortly after copulation, but their genetic material persists for years since their spermatozoa are stored in their mates' spermathecae. We examined the effects of protein restriction during larval development on sperm number and viability in the Argentine ant Linepithema humile. We also looked at its impact on male development, adult mass, and adult fluctuating asymmetry. We found that protein restriction during larval development significantly reduced sperm production, but not sperm viability. It did not affect the number of males reared, male mass, or male asymmetry. However, males from protein-restricted nests developed much more slowly than males from protein-supplemented nests. These results suggest investing in sperm quality and in somatic growth, which enhances a male's ability to disperse and find a mate, are critical to successful male reproduction.
精子的产生成本高昂；因此，饮食应该会影响精子数量和/或活力。在非社会性昆虫和脊椎动物中，有令人信服的证据表明饮食会影响精子的产生。对于群居膜翅目昆虫（所有蚂蚁以及一些蜜蜂和黄蜂）中这种关系的了解较少，它们的交配系统对精子产生施加了独特的选择压力。雄性面临生理限制：它们在幼虫阶段获取未来生殖所需的所有资源，并在蛹期羽化时带有固定的、不可再生的精子数量。此外，雄性在交配后不久就会死亡，但它们的遗传物质会持续存在数年，因为它们的精子被储存在配偶的受精囊中。我们研究了阿根廷蚁Linepithema humile幼虫发育期间蛋白质限制对精子数量和活力的影响。我们还研究了其对雄性发育、成虫体重和成虫波动不对称性的影响。我们发现幼虫发育期间的蛋白质限制显著减少了精子产生，但不影响精子活力。它不影响雄性的饲养数量、雄性体重或雄性不对称性。然而，来自蛋白质限制巢的雄性比来自蛋白质补充巢的雄性发育得慢得多。这些结果表明，对精子质量和体细胞生长的投入对于雄性成功繁殖至关重要，而体细胞生长增强了雄性分散和寻找配偶的能力。
