Paternal diet affects differential gene expression, but not sperm competition, in sons.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Zajitschek F
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5326516 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Paternal diet affects differential gene expression, but not sperm competition, in sons.
Zajitschek Felix F Zajitschek Susanne S Manier Mollie M
Biology letters 20170215 2
Parental environment can widely influence offspring phenotype, but paternal effects in the absence of parental care remain poorly understood. We asked if protein content in the larval diet of fathers affected paternity success and gene expression in their sons. We found that males reared on high-protein diet had sons that fared better during sperm competition, suggesting that postcopulatory sexual selection is subject to transgenerational paternal effects. Moreover, immune response genes were do ...[more]
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