2024-03-29T04:37:10Zhttp://digital.csic.es/dspace-oai/requestoai:digital.csic.es:10261/975902021-12-28T15:48:01Zcom_10261_77com_10261_8col_10261_330
Structural evolution of CatSper1 in rodents is influenced by sperm competition, with effects on sperm swimming velocity
Vicens, Alberto
Tourmente, Maximiliano
Roldán, Eduardo R. S.
Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España)
CatSper1
Sperm competition
Indels
Positive selection
Sperm velocity
Rodent
[Background] Competition between spermatozoa from rival males for success in fertilization (i.e., sperm competition) is an important selective force driving the evolution of male reproductive traits and promoting positive selection in genes related to reproductive function. Positive selection has been identified in reproductive proteins showing rapid divergence at nucleotide level. Other mutations, such as insertions and deletions (indels), also occur in protein-coding sequences. These structural changes, which exist in reproductive genes and result in length variation in coded proteins, could also be subjected to positive selection and be under the influence of sperm competition. Catsper1 is one such reproductive gene coding for a germ-line specific voltage-gated calcium channel essential for sperm motility and fertilization. Positive selection appears to promote fixation of indels in the N-terminal region of CatSper1 in mammalian species. However, it is not known which selective forces underlie these changes and their implications for sperm function.
[Results] We tested if length variation in the N-terminal region of CatSper1 is influenced by sperm competition intensity in a group of closely related rodent species of the subfamily Murinae. Our results revealed a negative correlation between sequence length of CatSper1 and relative testes mass, a very good proxy of sperm competition levels. Since CatSper1 is important for sperm flagellar motility, we examined if length variation in the N-terminus of CatSper1 is linked to changes in sperm swimming velocity. We found a negative correlation between CatSper1 length and several sperm velocity parameters.
[Conclusions] Altogether, our results suggest that sperm competition selects for a shortening of the intracellular region of CatSper1 which, in turn, enhances sperm swimming velocity, an essential and adaptive trait for fertilization success.
This study was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (grant CGL2011-26341 to ERSR). AV holds a postgraduate scholarship (BES-2009-029239) supported by the program Formación del Personal Investigador (FPI) whereas MT holds a “Juan de la Cierva” postdoctoral fellowship, both from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.
Peer Reviewed
2014-06-02T15:20:22Z
2014-06-02T15:20:22Z
2014-05-16
2014-06-02T15:20:22Z
artículo
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
BMC Evolutionary Biology 14(1): 106 (2014)
1471-2148
http://hdl.handle.net/10261/97590
10.1186/1471-2148-14-106
http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003329
24884901
Publisher’s version
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-14-106
Sí
open
BioMed Central