The sperm factor: paternal impact beyond genes

Immler, Simone (2018) The sperm factor: paternal impact beyond genes. Heredity, 121. 239–247. ISSN 0018-067X

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Abstract

The fact that sperm carry more than the paternal DNA has only been discovered just over a decade ago. With this discovery, the idea that the paternal condition may have direct implications for the fitness of the offspring had to be revisited. While this idea is still highly debated, empirical evidence for paternal effects is accumulating. Male condition not only affects male fertility but also offspring early development and performance later in life. Several factors have been identified as possible carriers of non-genetic information, but we still know little about their origin and function and even less about their causation. I consider four possible non-mutually exclusive adaptive and non-adaptive explanations for the existence of paternal effects in an evolutionary context. In addition, I provide a brief overview of the main non-genetic components found in sperm including DNA methylation, chromatin modifications, RNAs and proteins. I discuss their putative functions and present currently available examples for their role in transferring non-genetic information from the father to the offspring. Finally, I identify some of the most important open questions and present possible future research avenues.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Biological Sciences
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Organisms and the Environment Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	29 Jun 2018 11:30
Last Modified:	09 Oct 2024 13:34
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/67487
DOI:	10.1038/s41437-018-0111-0

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