Differing effects of age and starvation on reproductive performance in Drosophila melanogaster

Clicks: 302
ID: 127973
2019
Free PDF
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
Steady

Ranked #438 of 1,628 articles by views in Scientific reports

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 1,628 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
Abstract Successful reproduction requires the completion of many, often condition-dependent, stages, from mate searching and courtship through to sperm transfer, fertilisation and offspring production. Animals can plastically adjust their investment in each stage according to the physical and social environment, their own condition, their future reproductive potential, and the condition of their partner. Here we manipulate age and condition, through a nutritional challenge early or late in life, of both male and female Drosophila melanogaster and measure the effects on courtship, mating, and fitness when paired with a standardized (unmanipulated) partner. Older males were slower to start courting and mating, and courted at a slower rate, but males were indifferent to female age or condition despite older females laying and hatching fewer eggs. Female condition had a substantial effect on mating acceptance rate, which dropped dramatically after starvation, and particularly recent starvation experience. In contrast, male condition had little effect on any of the components of reproductive performance we measured. Intriguingly, we found no evidence for additive or multiplicative effects of ageing and starvation: the only significant interaction between these variables was on male latency to initiate courtship – older males were slower to start courting unless they had experienced starvation early in life. These results indicate that the immediate costs of mating differ between males and females, and that the sexes differ in their perception of the opportunity cost sustained by refusing a mating opportunity. Our results support the idea that ageing has more wide-ranging impact on reproductive behaviours than does nutritional challenge.
Reference Key
churchill2019differingscientific Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Churchill, Emily R.;Dytham, Calvin;Thom, Michael D. F.;
Journal Scientific reports
Year 2019
DOI
DOI not found
URL
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1038/s41598-019-38843-w
Keywords
Medicine Science general. including nature conservation, geographical distribution

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.