Abstract
The role of males in fertilization in the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis was examined. Neonate mictic females sometimes escaped fertilization even when sperm were present in their pseudocoeloms. Males made a major contribution to this fertilization failure through temporary infertility. As males aged, sperm numbers and motility decreased. Maternal diet was found to play a primary role in determining the fertilizing capacity of the F1 males. Females from log phase populations produced males with higher sperm counts and motility than females from stationary phase populations. A conditioning factor in the medium may increase sperm number and fertilization rate.
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© 1987 Dr W. Junk Publishers, Dordrecht - Printed in the Netherlands
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Snell, T.W., Hoff, F.H. (1987). Fertilization and male fertility in the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis . In: May, L., Wallace, R., Herzig, A. (eds) Rotifer Symposium IV. Developments in Hydrobiology, vol 42. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4059-8_45
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4059-8_45
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-8302-7
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