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24 TRAVEL REPORTS A “tail” of two sperm, and other stories 9th Biology of Spermatozoa Meeting 14th – 18th September 2007, Losehill Hall, UK Steve Ramm . University of Liverpool Leeuwenhoek, gave a talk based on his book “The Egg and Sperm Race”. This was a sweeping historical survey encompassing everything from Aristotle to Assisted Reproduction, describing the best (and worst) achievements of several thousand years of studying reproductive biology, and reminded us all of the giants upon whose shoulders we seek to stand. With the audience suitably enthused, the rest of the meeting comprised over fifty talk and poster presentations, just a few of which I have space to mention here. Delegates at the Biology of Spermatozoa 2007 meeting. T he modern era in sperm biology began in 1677 when the pioneering microscopist Antoni Leeuwenhoek plucked up the courage to write to the Royal Society and report the surprising ‘animacules’ he’d discovered in his semen. This not being the sort of discovery one might make by accident, he delicately explained that his subject had been “the excess which Nature provided me in my conjugal relations”. Nevertheless, to guard against any perception of unseemliness, he took the unusual step of writing his letter in Latin. These days, of course, things are rather different, and we sperm biologists will tell anyone and The first scientific plenary of the conference was delivered by Rhonda Snook (University of Sheffield, UK) on sperm heteromorphism in everyone who’ll listen about the Drosophila. As in many other animal groups, male Drosophila produce two types of sperm, often weird but always only one of which is capable of fertilization. The wonderful world of gametes. Every two years, the Biology of obvious, and unresolved, evolutionary puzzle in this is why they should bother with the other, Spermatozoa meeting, organised by Tim Birkhead and non-fertilizing type. One intriguing possibility, the audience was told, is that they act as Harry Moore of the University of Sheffield, provides a window ‘sacrificial sperm’, being killed by females but thereby increasing the likelihood that their on that world, and is the fertilization-capable kin will make it to the premier forum for discussing female’s sperm storage organs. evolutionary aspects of reproduction research. This Sticking for the moment with Drosophila, year’s meeting, the ninth since 199 and held at Losehill Hall in another highlight was the plenary given by the Peak District National Park, Mariana Wolfner (Cornell University, USA), revealing the exquisite detail to which she and was no exception. others have mapped the myriad effects of male seminal fluid proteins (known as ‘Acps’) upon The conference began, as I female reproductive physiology and behaviour. have, with a little historical Every minute of the talk felt like the distillation perspective. Matthew Cobb (University of Manchester, UK), of weeks, months and probably even years of painstaking research; the result was a master from whom I’ve borrowed the class on what I hesitate to describe as Prof. above story about 24 . GENETICS SOCIETY NEWS . ISSUE 58 TRAVEL REPORTS 25 Wolfner’s seminal contribution to the field. vanguard of this revolution has been Steve Dorus (University of Bath, UK), who spoke on the I’m sure in many cases inspired proteomic and genomic techniques that can by the example of Drosophila increasingly be brought to bear Acps, a noticeable trend at the on evolutionary questions, meeting was the increasing illustrated by his own work to emphasis on seminal fluidelucidate the Drosophila mediated effects in sexual selection across a wide range of melanogaster sperm proteome. The importance of a molecular animal groups (the conference perspective was also heard about studies in social emphasised by the final plenary insects, mosquitoes, birds and speaker of the conference, mammals, and there are Victor Vacquier (University of undoubtedly many more California San Diego, USA), underway). For example, who provided a comprehensive Tomasso Pizzari (University of overview of his lab’s groundOxford, UK) delivered some fascinating early results from a breaking work on the molecular evolution of gamete recognition study in domestic fowl of the proteins in marine potential for seminal fluid to act differentially on self versus invertebrates, principally abalone and sea urchins. This non-self sperm. The project work was among the first to arises from the paradox that a major property of seminal fluid establish the unusually rapid evolution of reproductionmay be to damage sperm, a related genes compared to most strategy which only really seems to make sense if it can be other parts of the genome, and continues to set the standard. directed at the sperm of one’s Work on vertebrate fertilization rivals in contests over lags in many respects some way paternity. Work by Charlie behind, but adopting a rather Cornwallis from the same different approach Eduardo group suggests that seminal Roldan (Museo Nacional de fluid may also be responsible Ciencias Naturales, Spain) for social status-dependent presented data on asymmetries variation in ejaculate quality. My own contribution also came in reciprocal cross-fertilization in this area, when I spoke about experiments in closely related rodent species that are the molecular evolution of attempting to uncover the mammalian seminal fluid degree to which sperm proteins, and in particular the rodent mating plug protein SVS competition and sexual conflict may be responsible for the II. In fact, another unifying theme of the conference for me rapid divergence of was this increasing integration reproductive proteins. of a molecular perspective into studies of sperm competition An earlier molecular revolution in behavioural ecology, that of and sexual selection research. DNA fingerprinting (and the One of the scientists at the consequent ability of researchers to assign paternity and thus determine the outcome of sperm competition), continues to lead to important discoveries. This was amply illustrated at the meeting, for example by Mats Olsson’s (University of Wollongong, Australia) analysis of male colour morphs in the Australian painted dragon lizard Ctenophorus pictus, or by Marco Demont’s (University of Zürich, Switzerland) study of sperm sorting in yellow dung flies, Scathophaga stercoraria. Paternity data will also shed light on the fascinating pattern of reproductive investment reported by John Fitzpatrick (McMaster University, Canada) in the cooperatively breeding cichlid fish Neolamprologus pulcher, in which helper males appear to be reproductively suppressed but then rapidly and dramatically increase sperm production if the dominant breeder male is removed from their group. All of these examples highlight the value of measuring how phenotypic diversity translates into reproductive success, in order to understand the complexities of natural populations. I’ll end with two final thoughts that arise from the conference: one, that things are often much more complicated than one might at first expect (neatly illustrated by Joachim Wistuba (Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Muenster, Germany) and Stefan Luepold (University of Sheffield, UK), both of whom gave talks on the important but often ignored intricacies of testicular architecture); and two, that they are often also more beautiful (who would have thought that watching Drosophila sperm heads flit from one female sperm storage organ to another – as was shown by Scott Pitnick (Syracuse University, USA) – could be quite so captivating? Or that, as demonstrated by David Woolley (University of Bristol, UK), and explaining my title, when two sperm meet each other they put on a display of synchronised swimming equal to anything you’re likely to see at the Olympics? Capturing the complexity and beauty of sperm biology is what this meeting does best and long may it continue. My thanks to the organisers of BoS 9 for a wonderful meeting, and to the Genetics Society for the funds that enabled me to attend. www.genetics.org.uk . 25