Paternity bias and cryptic female choice in chickens

Qunpu Wang; Bin Wang; Junying Li; Congjiao Sun; Ning Yang; Chaoliang Wen

Poultry Science (Jun 2024)

Paternity bias and cryptic female choice in chickens

Qunpu Wang,
Bin Wang,
Junying Li,
Congjiao Sun,
Ning Yang,
Chaoliang Wen

Affiliations

Qunpu Wang: State Key Laboratory of Animal Biotech Breeding and Frontier Science Center for Molecular Design Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China; National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding and Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China
Bin Wang: National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding and Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China
Junying Li: State Key Laboratory of Animal Biotech Breeding and Frontier Science Center for Molecular Design Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China; National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding and Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China; Sanya Institute of China Agricultural University, Hainan, 572025, China
Congjiao Sun: State Key Laboratory of Animal Biotech Breeding and Frontier Science Center for Molecular Design Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China; National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding and Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China; Sanya Institute of China Agricultural University, Hainan, 572025, China
Ning Yang: State Key Laboratory of Animal Biotech Breeding and Frontier Science Center for Molecular Design Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China; National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding and Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China; Sanya Institute of China Agricultural University, Hainan, 572025, China
Chaoliang Wen: State Key Laboratory of Animal Biotech Breeding and Frontier Science Center for Molecular Design Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China; National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding and Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China; Sanya Institute of China Agricultural University, Hainan, 572025, China; Corresponding author:

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 103, no. 6
p. 103744

Abstract

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ABSTRACT: Sperm competition and cryptic female choice (CFC) are 2 significant mechanisms of postcopulatory sexual selection that greatly impact fertilization success in various species. Despite extensive research has conducted on sperm competition and the evolution of sperm traits in internal fertilization, our understanding of the female preferences in selecting sperm is still limited. Here, we aimed to investigate the characteristics of CFC in chickens by utilizing artificial insemination with mixed semen to control for variations in male fertilization success caused by female perception of male quality and mating order. Our results revealed that the offspring from multiple-mated females exhibited mixed paternity. Although the males had an equal number of viable sperm, 1 male consistently exhibited a 15% higher success rate on average, regardless of whether the insemination was performed with fresh or diluted semen. This result suggested that this male demonstrates superior performance in sperm competition, and exhibited a potential advantage in fertilization success. While the dominant male generally made a greater genetic contribution to most offspring, the degree of this advantage varied greatly, ranging from 11.11 to 75%. Furthermore, our study provided evidence of female preferences influenced the precedence of sperm from certain males over others. Interestingly, this bias is not consistently observed among all individuals, as offspring derived from some females were predominantly sired by an overall disadvantaged male while others were predominantly by a different disadvantaged male. Overall, these results underscored the complex processes involved in sperm selection and emphasized the importance of females in sexual selection theory.

Published in Poultry Science

ISSN: 0032-5791 (Print); 1525-3171 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Agriculture: Animal culture
Website: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/poultry-science

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