Ref ID : 8
Terry W. Snell and Frank H. Hoff; Fertilization and male fertility in the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis. Hydrobiologia 147:329-334, 1987
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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 temporaty 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.