Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Journal of Evolutionary Biology

Publication Date

1-2023

Keywords

Gryllodes sigillatus, nuptial food gift, sexual conflict, sexual evolution, transcriptomics

Abstract

Nuptial food gift provisioning by males to females at mating is a strategy in many insects that is thought to be shaped by sexual conflict or sexual selection, as it affords males access to a female's physiology. While males often attempt to use these gifts to influence female behaviour to their own advantage, females can evolve counter mechanisms. In decorated crickets, the male's nuptial gift comprises part of the spermatophore, the spermatophylax, the feeding on which deters the female from prematurely terminating sperm transfer. However, ingested compounds in the spermatophylax and attachment of the sperm-containing ampulla could further influence female physiology and behaviour. We investigated how mating per se and these two distinct routes of potential male-mediated manipulation influence the female transcriptomic response. We conducted an RNA sequencing experiment on gut and head tissues from females for whom nuptial food gift consumption and receipt of an ejaculation were independently manipulated. In the gut tissue, we found that females not permitted to feed during mating exhibited decreased overall gene expression, possibly caused by a reduced gut function, but this was countered by feeding on the spermatophylax or a sham gift. In the head tissue, we found only low numbers of differentially expressed genes, but a gene co-expression network analysis revealed that ampulla attachment and spermatophylax consumption independently induce distinct gene expression patterns. This study provides evidence that spermatophylax feeding alters the female post-mating transcriptomic response in decorated crickets, highlighting its potential to mediate sexual conflict in this system.

Funding Source

This research was funded by grants from the Australian Research Council (DP180101708) to JH and the National Science Foundation (IOS 16–54028) to SKS, BMS, and JH.

Comments

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article:

Foquet, B., Rapkin, J., Sharma, M.D., Sadd, B.M., Sakaluk, S.K. and J. Hunt. 2023. Transcriptomic responses of females to consumption of nuptial food gifts as a potential mediator of sexual conflict in decorated crickets. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 36: 183-194. https://doi.org/10.1111/jeb.14114 ,

which has been published in final form at [Link to final article using the DOI]. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.

First published in Journal of Evolutionary Biology: https://doi.org/10.1111/jeb.14114

All sequencing data, as well as the assembled transcriptomes, are publicly available at the ncbi database, under the BioProject PRJNA784797. The raw qPCR data and the gene annotations of the transcriptome are available under the following Dryad archive: doi:10.5061/dryad.rxwdbrvcp.

Supplemental material available at https://doi.org/10.1111/jeb.14114

DOI

10.1111/jeb.14114

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