{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,31]],"date-time":"2026-07-31T03:56:18Z","timestamp":1785470178029,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,25]],"date-time":"2024-01-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1706140800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001691","name":"Japan Society for the Promotion of Science","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["KAKENHI 19K06911, 22K06322"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["KAKENHI 19K06911, 22K06322"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001691","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Sex differences in sex-shared behavior are common across various species. During mating, males transfer sperm and seminal fluid to females, which can affect female behavior. Sperm can be stored in the female reproductive tract for extended periods of time and used to fertilize eggs. However, the role of either sperm or embryo production in regulating female behavior is poorly understood. In the androdioecious nematode <jats:italic>C<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>elegans<\/jats:italic>, hermaphrodites produce both oocytes and sperm, enabling them to self-fertilize or mate with males. Hermaphrodites exhibit less locomotor activity compared to males, indicating sex difference in behavioral regulation. In this study, mutants defective in the sperm production and function were examined to investigate the role of sperm function in the regulation of locomotor behavior. Infertile hermaphrodites exhibited increased locomotor activity, which was suppressed after mating with fertile males. The results suggest that sperm, seminal fluid, or the presence of embryos are detected by hermaphrodites, leading to a reduction in locomotor activity. Additionally, females of closely related gonochoristic species, <jats:italic>C<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>remanei<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>C<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>brenneri<\/jats:italic>, exhibited reduced locomotor activity after mating. The regulation of locomotion by sperm function may be an adaptive mechanism that enables hermaphrodites lacking sperm or embryo to search for mates and allow females to cease their search for mates after mating.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0297802","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,25]],"date-time":"2024-01-25T18:26:18Z","timestamp":1706207178000},"page":"e0297802","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Sperm function is required for suppressing locomotor activity of C. elegans hermaphrodites"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"19","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4469-0301","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Satoshi","family":"Suo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0297802.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8","DOI":"10.1186\/2042-6410-3-8","article-title":"Sex differences in behavioral decision-making and the modulation of shared neural circuits","volume":"3","author":"WR Mowrey","year":"2012","journal-title":"Biol Sex Differ"},{"key":"pone.0297802.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"20150106","DOI":"10.1098\/rstb.2015.0106","article-title":"Multifaceted origins of sex differences in the brain","volume":"371","author":"MM McCarthy","year":"2016","journal-title":"Phil Trans R Soc B"},{"key":"pone.0297802.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"18","DOI":"10.1016\/j.conb.2016.01.004","article-title":"Sexual circuitry in Drosophila","volume":"38","author":"TO Auer","year":"2016","journal-title":"Current Opinion in Neurobiology"},{"key":"pone.0297802.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"R520","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cub.2012.04.058","article-title":"Sexual Behavior: How Sex Peptide Flips the Postmating Switch of Female Flies","volume":"22","author":"E Kubli","year":"2012","journal-title":"Current Biology"},{"key":"pone.0297802.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"0154","DOI":"10.1038\/s41559-017-0154","article-title":"Sperm and sex peptide stimulate aggression in female Drosophila","volume":"1","author":"E Bath","year":"2017","journal-title":"Nat Ecol Evol"},{"key":"pone.0297802.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"185","DOI":"10.1007\/s00441-015-2244-2","article-title":"Mammalian sperm interactions with the female reproductive tract","volume":"363","author":"SS Suarez","year":"2016","journal-title":"Cell Tissue Res"},{"key":"pone.0297802.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"56","DOI":"10.1016\/j.zool.2016.12.001","article-title":"The insect spermatheca: an overview","volume":"121","author":"TV Pascini","year":"2017","journal-title":"Zoology (Jena)."},{"key":"pone.0297802.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"71","DOI":"10.1093\/genetics\/77.1.71","article-title":"The genetics of Caenorhabditis elegans","volume":"77","author":"S. 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