Self-sperm induce resistance to the detrimental effects of sexual encounters with males in hermaphroditic nematodes

Abstract

Sexual interactions have a potent influence on health in several species, including mammals. Previous work in C. elegans 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 C. elegans 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.

Data availability

Sequencing data have been deposited in NCBI SRA under accession code PRJNA508378

The following data sets were generated

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Lauren N Booth

    Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, United States
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
  2. Travis J Maures

    Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, United States
    Competing interests
    Travis J Maures, is affiliated with Synthego. The author has no financial interests to declare..
  3. Robin W Yeo

    Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, United States
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
  4. Cindy Tantilert

    Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, United States
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
  5. Anne Brunet

    Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, United States
    For correspondence
    abrunet1@stanford.edu
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-4608-6845

Funding

National Institutes of Health (DP1 AG044848)

  • Anne Brunet

National Institutes of Health (R01 AG054201)

  • Anne Brunet

Helen Hay Whitney Foundation (Joan Whitney Payson Scholar)

  • Lauren N Booth

National Institutes of Health (K99 AG051738)

  • Lauren N Booth

Genentech Foundation (Genentech Foundation Predoctoral Fellow)

  • Robin W Yeo

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Copyright

© 2019, Booth 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.

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  1. Lauren N Booth
  2. Travis J Maures
  3. Robin W Yeo
  4. Cindy Tantilert
  5. Anne Brunet
(2019)
Self-sperm induce resistance to the detrimental effects of sexual encounters with males in hermaphroditic nematodes
eLife 8:e46418.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.46418

Share this article

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.46418

Further reading

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    Young Caenorhabditis elegans hermaphrodites use their own sperm to protect against the negative consequences of mating.

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