Revealing mechanisms of mating plug function under sexual selection

Stockley, P, Franco, C, Claydon, AJ, Davidson, A, Hammond, DE ORCID: 0000-0002-6326-8739, Brownridge, PJ, Hurst, JL and Beynon, RJ (2020) Revealing mechanisms of mating plug function under sexual selection. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 117 (44). pp. 27465-27473. ISSN 0027-8424

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Abstract

Mating plugs are produced by many sexually reproducing animals and are hypothesized to promote male fertilization success under promiscuous mating. However, tests of this hypothesis have been constrained by an inability to discriminate ejaculates of different males in direct competition. Here, we use stable isotope labeling in vivo and proteomics to achieve this in a promiscuous rodent, Myodes glareolus. We show that, although the first male’s plug is usually dislodged, it can be retained throughout the second male’s copulation. Retained plugs did not completely block rival sperm but did significantly limit their numbers. Differences in the number of each male’s sperm progressing through the female reproductive tract were also explained by natural variation in the size of mating plugs and reproductive accessory glands from which major plug proteins originate. Relative sperm numbers in turn predicted the relative fertilization success of rival males. Our application of stable isotopes to label ejaculates resolves a longstanding debate by revealing how rodent mating plugs promote fertilization success under competitive conditions. This approach opens new opportunities to reveal cryptic mechanisms of postcopulatory sexual selection among diverse animal taxa.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	reproduction; ejaculates; sexual selection; proteomics; stable isotope labeling; Seminal Vesicles; Animals; Seminal Plasma Proteins; Sperm Count; Copulation; Proteomics; Sperm Motility; Sperm Transport; Arvicolinae; Female; Male; Mating Preference, Animal; Sexual Selection; ejaculates; proteomics; reproduction; sexual selection; stable isotope labeling; Animals; Arvicolinae; Copulation; Female; Male; Mating Preference, Animal; Proteomics; Seminal Plasma Proteins; Seminal Vesicles; Sexual Selection; Sperm Count; Sperm Motility; Sperm Transport; 3109 Zoology; 3103 Ecology; 31 Biological Sciences; Contraception/Reproduction; Animals; Arvicolinae; Copulation; Female; Male; Mating Preference, Animal; Proteomics; Seminal Plasma Proteins; Seminal Vesicles; Sexual Selection; Sperm Count; Sperm Motility; Sperm Transport
Subjects:	Q Science > QD Chemistry Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301 Biology Q Science > QL Zoology
Divisions:	Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences
Publisher:	National Academy of Sciences
Date of acceptance:	19 August 2020
Date of first compliant Open Access:	7 July 2026
Date Deposited:	07 Jul 2026 10:17
Last Modified:	07 Jul 2026 10:17
DOI or ID number:	10.1073/pnas.1920526117
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/28968

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