Phillips, PatrickLancaster, RubenKasimatis, Katja2019-06-122019-06-12https://hdl.handle.net/1794/24604Single page posterMating is vital for sexually reproducing species, yet the ideal mating strategy for males and females can differ. The ensuing conflict between the sexes – namely sexual conflict – results in a decrease in population level fitness. The degree of sexual conflict can be affected by the behavior, physiology, and life history of a population. Previous studies in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans have shown that mating causes lifespan decreases in pseudo-females and hermaphrodites, which was taken as evidence of sexual conflict. However, it is still an open question whether variations in mating condition and strain type can affect the degree of sexual conflict and lifespan decrease. To investigate whether the effects of mating on lifespan persisted in other conditions, I conducted population-based mating assays in two different strains of C. elegans using both natural and male-skewed sex ratios. Counter to expectations, I found no effect of mating in a wild isolate of C. elegans, while virgins from a canonical strain had a decreased lifespan relative to their mated counterparts in group mating conditions but not individual mating conditions. Skewed sex ratios during mating had no effect on lifespan. My results highlight the need for the life history of populations to be taken into account when studying the effects of mating.Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0-USUndergraduate Research SymposiumEcologyEvolutionReproduction