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Science 13 February 2004:
Vol. 303. no. 5660, pp. 971 - 975
DOI: 10.1126/science.1092180
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Review

Evolutionary Ecology of the Prezygotic Stage

G. Bernasconi,1* T.-L. Ashman,2 T. R. Birkhead,3 J. D. D. Bishop,4 U. Grossniklaus,5 E. Kubli,6 D. L. Marshall,7 B. Schmid,1 I. Skogsmyr,8 R. R. Snook,3 D. Taylor,9 I. Till-Bottraud,10 P. I. Ward,11 D. W. Zeh,12 B. Hellriegel13

The life cycles of sexually reproducing animals and flowering plants begin with male and female gametes and their fusion to form a zygote. Selection at this earliest stage is crucial for offspring quality and raises similar evolutionary issues, yet zoology and botany use dissimilar approaches. There are striking parallels in the role of prezygotic competition for sexual selection on males, cryptic female choice, sexual conflict, and against selfish genetic elements and genetic incompatibility. In both groups, understanding the evolution of sex-specific and reproductive traits will require an appreciation of the effects of prezygotic competition on fitness.

1 Institute of Environmental Sciences, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
2 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA.
3 Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK.
4 School of Biological Sciences, University of Plymouth, PL4 8AA, UK, and Marine Biological Association, Plymouth PL1 2PB, UK.
5 Institute of Plant Biology, University of Zurich, CH-8008 Zurich, Switzerland.
6 Institute of Zoology, University of Zurich, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
7 Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.
8 Department of Theoretical Ecology, Lund University, S-223 62 Lund, Sweden.
9 Department of Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904–4328, USA.
10 Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine, Université Joseph Fourier, F-38041 Grenoble, France.
11 Zoological Museum, University of Zurich, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
12 Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557, USA.
13 Institute of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology, TU Munich, D-81675 Munich, Germany.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: bernasco{at}uwinst.unizh.ch

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