Home / All Titles / Journal of Mammalogy / August 2004 / pg(s) 768-773

Journal of Mammalogy

Published by: American Society of Mammalogists

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Journal of Mammalogy 85(4):768-773. 2004
doi: 10.1644/BJK-123

DO ODOCOILEUS VIRGINIANUS MALES PRODUCE Y-CHROMOSOME-BIASED EJACULATES? IMPLICATIONS FOR ADAPTIVE SEX RATIO THEORIES

Randy W. DeYoung*^a,^f, Lisa I. Muller^b, Stephen Demarais^a, H. David Guthrie^c, Glenn R. Welch^c, Terry J. Engelken^d, and Robert A. Gonzales^e

^aDepartment of Wildlife and Fisheries, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA (RWD, SD)

^bDepartment of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA (LIM)

^cBiotechnology and Germplasm Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA (HDG, GRW)

^dCollege of Veterinary Medicine, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA (TJE)

^eSamuel Roberts Noble Foundation, P.O. Box 2180, Ardmore, OK 73402, USA (RAG)

^fPresent address of RWD: Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, MSC 218, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Kingsville, TX 78363, USA

*Correspondent: randall.deyoung@tamuk.edu

Associate Editor was John G. Kie

Abstract

The theory of adaptive sex ratio variation assumes that parents can increase their fitness by investing in the offspring sex that will gain the greatest lifetime reproductive success. Many adaptive sex ratio hypotheses imply or predict a female-mediated physiological mechanism that facilitates parental control. However, the ability of females to control offspring sex ratio could be significantly affected if males provided X- or Y-chromosome-biased ejaculates, as was recently discovered in domestic artiodactyls. To determine whether this occurs in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), we examined semen sex ratio of captive deer using DNA fluorescence flow cytometry. We also used microsatellite markers to assign paternity of fawns sired in previous years to determine if temporal patterns existed in fawn sex relative to conception date. The ratio of X- and Y-sperm did not differ from an expected 1:1 among deer or between collection periods. Median conception dates of male and female fawns sired in previous years were similar, and there were no apparent temporal trends in offspring sex. We find no evidence that skewed ejaculates occur in white-tailed deer.

submittedFebruary 12, 2003; Accepted: September 4, 2003

Keywords: adaptive, Cervidae, DNA, flow cytometry, Odocoileus virginianus, reproductive physiology, sex allocation, sex ratio, sperm, white-tailed deer

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enlarge figure

Fig. 1.—Separation and incidence of X- and Y-sperm in the semen sample of 1 white-tailed deer. For this particular animal, the ratio of X- and Y-sperm was 50:50, and the difference in DNA content (of X- and Y-bearing sperm) was 4.4%

enlarge figure

Fig. 2.—Offspring sex ratio plotted versus conception date for 89 fawns (50 males, 39 females) sired by 7 white-tailed deer males in the Mississippi State University Captive Facility, 1997–2001. Offspring sex is plotted at weekly intervals. The distributions of male and female fawns are not significantly different (P > 0.2)

Table 1.—Sperm sex ratio (X:Y) of captive white-tailed deer at 2 collection periods, percentage difference between relative DNA content of X- and Y-sperm, and offspring sired by 5 males that had access to breeding opportunities

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