The evolution of polyandry remains controversial. This is because, unlike males, in many cases multiple mating by females does not increase fecundity and inevitably involves some costs. As a result, a large number of indirect benefit models have been proposed to explain polyandry. One of these, the good sperm hypothesis, posits that high-quality males are better sperm competitors and sire highe...

Oxygen-responsive promoters can be useful for synthetic biology applications, however, information on their characteristics is still limited. Here, we characterized a group of heterologous microaerobic globin promoters in Escherichia coli. Globin promoters from Bacillus subtilis, Campylobacter jejuni, Deinococcus radiodurans, Streptomyces coelicolor, Salmonella typhi and Vitreoscilla stercorari...

Direct costs and benefits to females of multiple mating have been shown to have large effects on female fecundity and longevity in several species. However, with the exception of studies examining genetic benefits of polyandry, little attention has been paid to the possible effects on offspring of multiple mating by females. We propose that nongenetic effects of maternal matings on offspring fi...

The food-borne pathogen Campylobacter jejuni possesses a single-domain globin (Cgb) whose role in detoxifying nitric oxide has been unequivocally demonstrated through genetic and molecular approaches. The x-ray structure of cyanide-bound Cgb has been solved to a resolution of 1.35 A. The overall fold is a classic three-on-three alpha-helical globin fold, similar to that of myoglobin and Vgb fro...

Extensive phenotypic plasticity can allow populations to persist in changing environments. Maternal effects represent one important but often neglected source of phenotypic plasticity. Mothers and offspring of 2 high(northern Norway and central Sweden) and 2 low(northern and southern Spain) latitude yellow dung fly Scathophaga stercoraria (Diptera: Scathophagidae) populations were exposed to co...

The mechanisms regulating sperm transfer, storage, and use in insects are far from clear. Even in one of the most well-resolved systems for studying post-copulatory sexual selection, the yellow dung fly (Scathophaga stercoraria), the process of sperm transfer is not well understood. Our aim is to model the fluid dynamics of sperm flow in the reproductive tracts of female yellow dung flies to de...

Foraging provides the basis for animal reproduction, but requires energy and time to be sustained, entailing a trade-off. Whereas females should maximize their foraging resources, males minimize by optimizing budgets access mating partners. Mark-resight field studies are difficult hence uncommon small insects. Yellow dung flies ( Scathophaga stercoraria L.) abound on pastures in cold-temperate ...

Evidence for selective disadvantages of large body size remains scarce in general. Previous studies the yellow dung fly Scathophaga stercoraria have demonstrated strong positive sexual and fecundity selection on male female size. Nevertheless, flies from a Swiss study population has declined by ~10% 1993–2009. Given substantial heritability size, this negative evolutionary response an evidently...