COMP-1 promotes competitive advantage of nematode sperm

  1. Jody M Hansen
  2. Daniela R Chavez
  3. Gillian M Stanfield  Is a corresponding author
  1. University of Utah, United States

Abstract

Competition among sperm to fertilize oocytes is a ubiquitous feature of sexual reproduction as well as a profoundly important aspect of sexual selection. However, little is known about the cellular mechanisms sperm use to gain competitive advantage or how these mechanisms are regulated genetically. Here, we utilize a forward genetic screen in C. elegans to identify a gene, comp-1, whose function is specifically required in competitive contexts. We show that comp-1 functions in sperm to modulate their migration through and localization within the reproductive tract, thereby promoting their access to oocytes. Contrary to previously-described models, comp-1 mutant sperm show no defects in size or velocity, thereby defining a novel pathway for preferential usage. Our results indicate not only that sperm functional traits can influence the outcome of sperm competition, but also that these traits can be modulated in a context-dependent manner depending on the presence of competing sperm.

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Jody M Hansen

    Department of Human Genetics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  2. Daniela R Chavez

    Department of Human Genetics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  3. Gillian M Stanfield

    Department of Human Genetics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, United States
    For correspondence
    gillians@genetics.utah.edu
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

Copyright

© 2015, Hansen et al.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

Metrics

  • 2,741
    views
  • 357
    downloads
  • 23
    citations

Views, downloads and citations are aggregated across all versions of this paper published by eLife.

Citations by DOI

Download links

A two-part list of links to download the article, or parts of the article, in various formats.

Downloads (link to download the article as PDF)

Open citations (links to open the citations from this article in various online reference manager services)

Cite this article (links to download the citations from this article in formats compatible with various reference manager tools)

  1. Jody M Hansen
  2. Daniela R Chavez
  3. Gillian M Stanfield
(2015)
COMP-1 promotes competitive advantage of nematode sperm
eLife 4:e05423.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.05423

Share this article

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.05423