Female pigs can recognise the sex of sperm and influence the sex of their offspring

Female pigs recognise whether a sperm will produce a boy or a girl.

Sex ratio of offspring in humans can be affected by the age of the mother and environmental factors like famines and wars.

Female pigs' reproductive systems recognise whether a sperm will produce a boy or a girl before it reaches and fertilises the egg, and their oviduct (fallopian tubes) change in response, according to new research from the University of Sheffield and University of Murcia.

Scientists think this may be a way females unconsciously influence the sex of their offspring.

The findings, reported in the open access journal BMC Genomics , show that different genes are active in female pigs' reproductive system cells in experimental conditions when all X (female) or all Y (male) sperm are present.

Although in nature the ratio would normally be 50:50, this suggests females might be able to change the environment of the oviduct to favor one sex over the other, giving that sperm a better chance of winning the race to the egg.

Studies of humans and animals have shown that the sex ratio of offspring can be affected by factors such as the age of the mother, or environmental factors like famines and wars. How and when this happens is unclear.

The international research team from the University of Sheffield and University of Murcia wanted to discover if the sex ratio is influenced in the early stages, before the sperm have even fertilised the egg.

To find out whether females can differentiate between female and male sperm, they inseminated female pigs with sperm that was either all X or all Y. They then analysed the pig oviduct gene expression - the genes that were switched on in the oviduct cells. They found that 501 genes consistently produced proteins in differing amounts depending on whether X or Y sperm was present.

Researchers are still not sure why this ability has evolved, but they speculate that if females can recognise the sex of sperm and change in response, they might be able to create an environment that favors boys or girls.

This could explain how females unconsciously influence the sex ratio of their offspring, but more studies are needed to confirm this.

Lead author Professor Alireza Fazeli from the Department of Human Metabolism at the University of Sheffield said: "What this shows is that mothers are able to differentiate between the sperm that makes boys and girls. That on its own is amazing. It's also of great scientific and evolutionary importance. If we understand how they can do that, this can revolutionise the field."

Additional information The Battle of the Sexes starts in the oviduct: modulation of oviductal transcriptome by X and Y-bearing spermatozoa

C Almiñana, I Caballero, P R Heath, S Maleki-Dizaji, I Parrilla, C Cuello, M A Gil, J L Vazquez, J M Vazquez, J Roca, E A Martinez, W V Holt and A Fazeli BMC Genomics 2014, 15:293 The article available in full at BioMed Central BMC Genomics

BMC Genomics is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that considers articles on all aspects of genome-scale analysis, functional genomics, and proteomics. BioMed Central is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the open access publishing model. All peer-reviewed research articles published by BioMed Central are made immediately and freely accessible online, and are licensed to allow redistribution and reuse. BioMed Central is part of Springer Science+Business Media, a leading global publisher in the STM sector. The University of Sheffield

With almost 25,000 of the brightest students from around 120 countries, learning alongside over 1,200 of the best academics from across the globe, the University of Sheffield is one of the world’s leading universities.

A member of the UK’s prestigious Russell Group of leading research-led institutions, Sheffield offers world-class teaching and research excellence across a wide range of disciplines. Unified by the power of discovery and understanding, staff and students at the university are committed to finding new ways to transform the world we live in. In 2011 it was named University of the Year in the Times Higher Education Awards and in the last decade has won four Queen’s Anniversary Prizes in recognition of the outstanding contribution to the United Kingdom’s intellectual, economic, cultural and social life. Sheffield has five Nobel Prize winners among former staff and students and its alumni go on to hold positions of great responsibility and influence all over the world, making significant contributions in their chosen fields.

Global research partners and clients include Boeing, Rolls-Royce, Unilever, AstraZeneca, Glaxo SmithKline and Siemens, as well as many UK and overseas government agencies and charitable foundations.