Mouse Sperm Cooperates With Its Brethren
Some mouse sperm can discriminate between its brethren and competing sperm from other males, clustering with its closest relatives to swim faster in the race to the egg. But this sort of cooperation appears to be present only in certain promiscuous species, where it affords an individual's sperm a competitive advantage over that of other males.
The work is described January 21 in the journal Nature by biologists Heidi S. Fisher and Hopi E. Hoekstra of Harvard University.
"The race among sperm toward the egg is fierce, but never more so than when sperm of different males compete," says Fisher, a postdoctoral researcher in Harvard's Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. "In some species where females mates with multiple males, groups of sperm join forces in order to outswim their uncooperative competitors. We've shown that in deer mice, cooperation only occurs among close relatives -- sperm from the same male."
Male deer mouse. Some mouse sperm can discriminate between its brethren and competing sperm
from other males, clustering with its closest relatives to swim faster in the race to the egg.
(Credit: iStockphoto/Katherine Garrenson)
The work is described January 21 in the journal Nature by biologists Heidi S. Fisher and Hopi E. Hoekstra of Harvard University.
"The race among sperm toward the egg is fierce, but never more so than when sperm of different males compete," says Fisher, a postdoctoral researcher in Harvard's Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. "In some species where females mates with multiple males, groups of sperm join forces in order to outswim their uncooperative competitors. We've shown that in deer mice, cooperation only occurs among close relatives -- sperm from the same male."
