Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, United States.
Glenn Laboratories for the Biology of Aging at Stanford University, Stanford, United States.
Elife. 2019 Jul 8;8:e46418. doi: 10.7554/eLife.46418.
Sexual interactions have a potent influence on health in several species, including mammals. Previous work in identified strategies used by males to accelerate the demise of the opposite sex (hermaphrodites). But whether hermaphrodites evolved counter-strategies against males remains unknown. Here we discover that young hermaphrodites are remarkably resistant to brief sexual encounters with males, whereas older hermaphrodites succumb prematurely. Surprisingly, it is not their youthfulness that protects young hermaphrodites, but the fact that they have self-sperm. The beneficial effect of self-sperm is mediated by a sperm-sensing pathway acting on the soma rather than by fertilization. Activation of this pathway in females triggers protection from the negative impact of males. Interestingly, the role of self-sperm in protecting against the detrimental effects of males evolved independently in hermaphroditic nematodes. Endogenous strategies to delay the negative effect of mating may represent a key evolutionary innovation to maximize reproductive success.
性互动对包括哺乳动物在内的许多物种的健康都有强大的影响。之前的研究已经确定了雄性用来加速异性（雌雄同体）死亡的策略。但是雌雄同体是否进化出了对抗雄性的对策尚不清楚。在这里，我们发现年轻的雌雄同体对与雄性的短暂性接触具有惊人的抵抗力，而年老的雌雄同体则过早屈服。令人惊讶的是，保护年轻雌雄同体的不是它们的年轻，而是它们拥有自我精子的事实。自我精子的有益作用是通过作用于躯体而不是通过受精的精子感应途径来介导的。该途径在雌性中的激活触发了对雄性负面影响的保护。有趣的是，自我精子在保护雌雄同体免受雄性有害影响方面的作用在雌雄同体线虫中独立进化。延迟交配负面影响的内源性策略可能代表了最大限度提高繁殖成功的关键进化创新。
