[{"project":[{"call_identifier":"FP7","grant_number":"291734","name":"International IST Postdoc Fellowship Programme","_id":"25681D80-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425"},{"_id":"26956E74-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425","name":"Bacterial toxin-antitoxin systems as antiphage defense mechanisms","grant_number":"V00738","call_identifier":"FWF"}],"intvolume":"        21","department":[{"_id":"CaGu"}],"year":"2025","ec_funded":1,"file_date_updated":"2025-06-23T11:34:39Z","oa":1,"date_created":"2025-06-22T22:02:06Z","user_id":"317138e5-6ab7-11ef-aa6d-ffef3953e345","corr_author":"1","OA_place":"publisher","external_id":{"pmid":["40494395"],"isi":["001505019800001"]},"language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"scopus_import":"1","acknowledgement":"This work was supported by ISTFELLOW (People Program – Marie Curie Actions of the European Union’s Seventh Framework Program FP7 under REA grant agreement 291734), the FWF (Austrian Science Fund) Elise Richter Program project number V 738 and the Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Award (WT105618MA), to N.N. M.P. was a Simons Foundation Fellow of the Life Sciences Research Foundation. We are grateful to Kathrin Tomasek, Lisa Butt, Chris Estell, Alys Jepson, Franklin Nobrega, Stefano Pagliara, Remy Chait, Steve West, Vicki Gold, Josh Eaton, Ivana Gudelj and Rob Beardmore for useful discussions and technical support, as well as to Robin Wright, Christian Fitch and Ben Temperton for sharing equipment. We thank Laurence Van Melderen for sharing the strains. We acknowledge the IST Austria Lab Support Facility, LSI Technical Services Team at the University of Exeter and the Translational Research Exchange @ Exeter (TREE) network. N.N. is grateful to Fabrice Gielen for his support.","ddc":["570"],"publisher":"The Royal Society","doi":"10.1098/rsbl.2025.0080","OA_type":"hybrid","day":"11","publication_status":"published","file":[{"creator":"dernst","success":1,"relation":"main_file","checksum":"016f644ed068f8609ded306ad26dbd3f","date_updated":"2025-06-23T11:34:39Z","file_size":1850797,"date_created":"2025-06-23T11:34:39Z","content_type":"application/pdf","access_level":"open_access","file_name":"2025_BiologyLetters_Nikolic.pdf","file_id":"19873"}],"publication":"Biology Letters","pmid":1,"quality_controlled":"1","title":"A bacterial toxin-antitoxin system as a native defence element against RNA phages","acknowledged_ssus":[{"_id":"LifeSc"}],"author":[{"full_name":"Nikolic, Nela","orcid":"0000-0001-9068-6090","last_name":"Nikolic","first_name":"Nela","id":"42D9CABC-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87"},{"last_name":"Pleska","orcid":"0000-0001-7460-7479","full_name":"Pleska, Maros","id":"4569785E-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","first_name":"Maros"},{"first_name":"Tobias","id":"2C471CFA-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","full_name":"Bergmiller, Tobias","last_name":"Bergmiller","orcid":"0000-0001-5396-4346"},{"first_name":"Calin C","id":"47F8433E-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","full_name":"Guet, Calin C","last_name":"Guet","orcid":"0000-0001-6220-2052"}],"date_published":"2025-06-11T00:00:00Z","article_number":"20250080","date_updated":"2025-09-30T13:38:08Z","issue":"6","month":"06","abstract":[{"lang":"eng","text":"Bacteria have evolved a wide range of defence strategies to protect themselves against bacterial viruses (phages). Most known bacterial antiphage defence systems target phages with DNA genomes, which raises the question of how bacteria defend against phages with RNA genomes. Bacterial toxin–antitoxin systems that cleave intracellular RNA could potentially protect bacteria against RNA phages, but this has not been explored experimentally. In this study, we investigated the role of a model toxin–antitoxin system, MazEF, in protecting Escherichia coli against two RNA phage species. When challenged with these phages, the native presence of mazEF moderately reduced population susceptibility and increased the survival of individual E. coli cells. Genomic analysis further revealed an underrepresentation of the MazF cleavage site in genomes of RNA phages infecting E. coli, indicating selection against cleavage. These results show that, in addition to other physiological roles, RNA-degrading toxin–antitoxin systems may also help defend against RNA phages."}],"volume":21,"article_type":"original","tmp":{"legal_code_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode","short":"CC BY (4.0)","name":"Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)","image":"/images/cc_by.png"},"oa_version":"Published Version","isi":1,"has_accepted_license":"1","citation":{"ista":"Nikolic N, Pleska M, Bergmiller T, Guet CC. 2025. A bacterial toxin-antitoxin system as a native defence element against RNA phages. Biology Letters. 21(6), 20250080.","short":"N. Nikolic, M. Pleska, T. Bergmiller, C.C. Guet, Biology Letters 21 (2025).","mla":"Nikolic, Nela, et al. “A Bacterial Toxin-Antitoxin System as a Native Defence Element against RNA Phages.” <i>Biology Letters</i>, vol. 21, no. 6, 20250080, The Royal Society, 2025, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2025.0080\">10.1098/rsbl.2025.0080</a>.","ieee":"N. Nikolic, M. Pleska, T. Bergmiller, and C. C. Guet, “A bacterial toxin-antitoxin system as a native defence element against RNA phages,” <i>Biology Letters</i>, vol. 21, no. 6. The Royal Society, 2025.","chicago":"Nikolic, Nela, Maros Pleska, Tobias Bergmiller, and Calin C Guet. “A Bacterial Toxin-Antitoxin System as a Native Defence Element against RNA Phages.” <i>Biology Letters</i>. The Royal Society, 2025. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2025.0080\">https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2025.0080</a>.","ama":"Nikolic N, Pleska M, Bergmiller T, Guet CC. A bacterial toxin-antitoxin system as a native defence element against RNA phages. <i>Biology Letters</i>. 2025;21(6). doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2025.0080\">10.1098/rsbl.2025.0080</a>","apa":"Nikolic, N., Pleska, M., Bergmiller, T., &#38; Guet, C. C. (2025). A bacterial toxin-antitoxin system as a native defence element against RNA phages. <i>Biology Letters</i>. The Royal Society. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2025.0080\">https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2025.0080</a>"},"article_processing_charge":"Yes (via OA deal)","publication_identifier":{"eissn":["1744-957X"],"issn":["1744-9561"]},"type":"journal_article","_id":"19857","status":"public"},{"scopus_import":"1","ddc":["570"],"day":"03","publisher":"Royal Society of London","doi":"10.1098/rsbl.2018.0881","main_file_link":[{"open_access":"1","url":"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0881"}],"intvolume":"        15","year":"2019","department":[{"_id":"BeVi"},{"_id":"NiBa"}],"project":[{"name":"International IST Postdoc Fellowship Programme","_id":"25681D80-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425","grant_number":"291734","call_identifier":"FP7"}],"ec_funded":1,"language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"external_id":{"isi":["000465405300010"],"pmid":["31014191"]},"oa":1,"date_created":"2019-05-19T21:59:15Z","user_id":"2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","oa_version":"Published Version","isi":1,"month":"04","abstract":[{"lang":"eng","text":"Fitness interactions between mutations can influence a population’s evolution in many different ways. While epistatic effects are difficult to measure precisely, important information is captured by the mean and variance of log fitnesses for individuals carrying different numbers of mutations. We derive predictions for these quantities from a class of simple fitness landscapes, based on models of optimizing selection on quantitative traits. We also explore extensions to the models, including modular pleiotropy, variable effect sizes, mutational bias and maladaptation of the wild type. We illustrate our approach by reanalysing a large dataset of mutant effects in a yeast snoRNA (small nucleolar RNA). Though characterized by some large epistatic effects, these data give a good overall fit to the non-epistatic null model, suggesting that epistasis might have limited influence on the evolutionary dynamics in this system. We also show how the amount of epistasis depends on both the underlying fitness landscape and the distribution of mutations, and so is expected to vary in consistent ways between new mutations, standing variation and fixed mutations."}],"volume":15,"date_updated":"2026-06-18T19:05:03Z","issue":"4","article_type":"original","related_material":{"record":[{"relation":"research_data","status":"public","id":"9799"},{"id":"9798","status":"public","relation":"research_data"}],"link":[{"url":"https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4461008","relation":"supplementary_material"}]},"_id":"6467","status":"public","article_processing_charge":"No","citation":{"ama":"Fraisse C, Welch JJ. The distribution of epistasis on simple fitness landscapes. <i>Biology Letters</i>. 2019;15(4). doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0881\">10.1098/rsbl.2018.0881</a>","apa":"Fraisse, C., &#38; Welch, J. J. (2019). The distribution of epistasis on simple fitness landscapes. <i>Biology Letters</i>. Royal Society of London. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0881\">https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0881</a>","ista":"Fraisse C, Welch JJ. 2019. The distribution of epistasis on simple fitness landscapes. Biology Letters. 15(4), 0881.","short":"C. Fraisse, J.J. Welch, Biology Letters 15 (2019).","mla":"Fraisse, Christelle, and John J. Welch. “The Distribution of Epistasis on Simple Fitness Landscapes.” <i>Biology Letters</i>, vol. 15, no. 4, 0881, Royal Society of London, 2019, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0881\">10.1098/rsbl.2018.0881</a>.","ieee":"C. Fraisse and J. J. Welch, “The distribution of epistasis on simple fitness landscapes,” <i>Biology Letters</i>, vol. 15, no. 4. Royal Society of London, 2019.","chicago":"Fraisse, Christelle, and John J. Welch. “The Distribution of Epistasis on Simple Fitness Landscapes.” <i>Biology Letters</i>. Royal Society of London, 2019. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0881\">https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0881</a>."},"type":"journal_article","publication_identifier":{"eissn":["1744-957X"],"issn":["1744-9561"]},"publication":"Biology Letters","quality_controlled":"1","pmid":1,"publication_status":"published","article_number":"0881","date_published":"2019-04-03T00:00:00Z","author":[{"first_name":"Christelle","id":"32DF5794-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","full_name":"Fraisse, Christelle","last_name":"Fraisse","orcid":"0000-0001-8441-5075"},{"full_name":"Welch, John J.","last_name":"Welch","first_name":"John J."}],"title":"The distribution of epistasis on simple fitness landscapes"},{"external_id":{"isi":["000418695400010"],"pmid":["29237813"]},"language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"date_created":"2018-12-11T11:47:10Z","user_id":"317138e5-6ab7-11ef-aa6d-ffef3953e345","intvolume":"        13","year":"2017","department":[{"_id":"SyCr"}],"day":"01","doi":"10.1098/rsbl.2017.0632","publisher":"The Royal Society","scopus_import":"1","publist_id":"7255","author":[{"first_name":"Momir","full_name":"Futo, Momir","last_name":"Futo"},{"first_name":"Marie","full_name":"Sell, Marie","last_name":"Sell"},{"full_name":"Kutzer, Megan","last_name":"Kutzer","orcid":"0000-0002-8696-6978","first_name":"Megan","id":"29D0B332-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87"},{"first_name":"Joachim","full_name":"Kurtz, Joachim","last_name":"Kurtz"}],"date_published":"2017-12-01T00:00:00Z","article_number":"0632","title":"Specificity of oral immune priming in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum","pmid":1,"quality_controlled":"1","publication":"Biology Letters","publication_status":"published","_id":"558","status":"public","publication_identifier":{"issn":["1744-9561"]},"type":"journal_article","citation":{"mla":"Futo, Momir, et al. “Specificity of Oral Immune Priming in the Red Flour Beetle Tribolium Castaneum.” <i>Biology Letters</i>, vol. 13, no. 12, 0632, The Royal Society, 2017, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2017.0632\">10.1098/rsbl.2017.0632</a>.","ieee":"M. Futo, M. Sell, M. Kutzer, and J. Kurtz, “Specificity of oral immune priming in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum,” <i>Biology Letters</i>, vol. 13, no. 12. The Royal Society, 2017.","chicago":"Futo, Momir, Marie Sell, Megan Kutzer, and Joachim Kurtz. “Specificity of Oral Immune Priming in the Red Flour Beetle Tribolium Castaneum.” <i>Biology Letters</i>. The Royal Society, 2017. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2017.0632\">https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2017.0632</a>.","ista":"Futo M, Sell M, Kutzer M, Kurtz J. 2017. Specificity of oral immune priming in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum. Biology Letters. 13(12), 0632.","short":"M. Futo, M. Sell, M. Kutzer, J. Kurtz, Biology Letters 13 (2017).","apa":"Futo, M., Sell, M., Kutzer, M., &#38; Kurtz, J. (2017). Specificity of oral immune priming in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum. <i>Biology Letters</i>. The Royal Society. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2017.0632\">https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2017.0632</a>","ama":"Futo M, Sell M, Kutzer M, Kurtz J. Specificity of oral immune priming in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum. <i>Biology Letters</i>. 2017;13(12). doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2017.0632\">10.1098/rsbl.2017.0632</a>"},"article_processing_charge":"No","oa_version":"None","isi":1,"article_type":"original","date_updated":"2025-09-11T08:07:58Z","issue":"12","abstract":[{"text":"Immune specificity is the degree to which a host’s immune system discriminates among various pathogens or antigenic variants. Vertebrate immune memory is highly specific due to antibody responses. On the other hand, some invertebrates show immune priming, i.e. improved survival after secondary exposure to a previously encountered pathogen. Until now, specificity of priming has only been demonstrated via the septic infection route or when live pathogens were used for priming. Therefore, we tested for specificity in the oral priming route in the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum. For priming, we used pathogen-free supernatants derived from three different strains of the entomopathogen, Bacillus thuringiensis, which express different Cry toxin variants known for their toxicity against this beetle. Subsequent exposure to the infective spores showed that oral priming was specific for two naturally occurring strains, while a third engineered strain did not induce any priming effect. Our data demonstrate that oral immune priming with a non-infectious bacterial agent can be specific, but the priming effect is not universal across all bacterial strains.","lang":"eng"}],"volume":13,"month":"12"},{"language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"external_id":{"pmid":["29237814"],"isi":["000418695400012"]},"corr_author":"1","date_created":"2018-12-11T11:47:11Z","user_id":"2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","oa":1,"main_file_link":[{"url":"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2017.0646","open_access":"1"}],"year":"2017","intvolume":"        13","department":[{"_id":"CaGu"}],"project":[{"_id":"251BCBEC-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425","name":"Multi-Level Conflicts in Evolutionary Dynamics of Restriction-Modification Systems","grant_number":"RGY0079/2011"},{"grant_number":"24210","name":"Effects of Stochasticity on the Function of Restriction-Modi cation Systems at the Single-Cell Level","_id":"251D65D8-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425"}],"day":"01","doi":"10.1098/rsbl.2017.0646","publisher":"The Royal Society","ddc":["570"],"acknowledgement":"This work was funded by an HFSP Young Investigators' grant RGY0079/2011 (C.C.G.). M.P. is a recipient of a DOC Fellowship of the Austrian Academy of Science at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria.","scopus_import":"1","publist_id":"7253","article_number":"20170646","date_published":"2017-12-01T00:00:00Z","author":[{"id":"4569785E-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","first_name":"Maros","last_name":"Pleska","orcid":"0000-0001-7460-7479","full_name":"Pleska, Maros"},{"orcid":"0000-0001-6220-2052","last_name":"Guet","full_name":"Guet, Calin C","id":"47F8433E-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","first_name":"Calin C"}],"title":"Effects of mutations in phage restriction sites during escape from restriction–modification","quality_controlled":"1","pmid":1,"publication":"Biology Letters","publication_status":"published","_id":"561","status":"public","type":"journal_article","publication_identifier":{"issn":["1744-9561"]},"article_processing_charge":"No","citation":{"chicago":"Pleska, Maros, and Calin C Guet. “Effects of Mutations in Phage Restriction Sites during Escape from Restriction–Modification.” <i>Biology Letters</i>. The Royal Society, 2017. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2017.0646\">https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2017.0646</a>.","ieee":"M. Pleska and C. C. Guet, “Effects of mutations in phage restriction sites during escape from restriction–modification,” <i>Biology Letters</i>, vol. 13, no. 12. The Royal Society, 2017.","mla":"Pleska, Maros, and Calin C. Guet. “Effects of Mutations in Phage Restriction Sites during Escape from Restriction–Modification.” <i>Biology Letters</i>, vol. 13, no. 12, 20170646, The Royal Society, 2017, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2017.0646\">10.1098/rsbl.2017.0646</a>.","short":"M. Pleska, C.C. Guet, Biology Letters 13 (2017).","ista":"Pleska M, Guet CC. 2017. Effects of mutations in phage restriction sites during escape from restriction–modification. Biology Letters. 13(12), 20170646.","apa":"Pleska, M., &#38; Guet, C. C. (2017). Effects of mutations in phage restriction sites during escape from restriction–modification. <i>Biology Letters</i>. The Royal Society. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2017.0646\">https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2017.0646</a>","ama":"Pleska M, Guet CC. Effects of mutations in phage restriction sites during escape from restriction–modification. <i>Biology Letters</i>. 2017;13(12). doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2017.0646\">10.1098/rsbl.2017.0646</a>"},"isi":1,"oa_version":"Published Version","article_type":"original","related_material":{"record":[{"id":"9847","status":"public","relation":"research_data"},{"relation":"dissertation_contains","status":"public","id":"202"}]},"abstract":[{"text":"Restriction–modification systems are widespread genetic elements that protect bacteria from bacteriophage infections by recognizing and cleaving heterologous DNA at short, well-defined sequences called restriction sites. Bioinformatic evidence shows that restriction sites are significantly underrepresented in bacteriophage genomes, presumably because bacteriophages with fewer restriction sites are more likely to escape cleavage by restriction–modification systems. However, how mutations in restriction sites affect the likelihood of bacteriophage escape is unknown. Using the bacteriophage l and the restriction–modification system EcoRI, we show that while mutation effects at different restriction sites are unequal, they are independent. As a result, the probability of bacteriophage escape increases with each mutated restriction site. Our results experimentally support the role of restriction site avoidance as a response to selection imposed by restriction–modification systems and offer an insight into the events underlying the process of bacteriophage escape.","lang":"eng"}],"month":"12","volume":13,"date_updated":"2026-06-18T18:54:20Z","issue":"12"},{"year":"2008","intvolume":"         4","external_id":{"pmid":["18700195"]},"language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"date_created":"2018-12-11T12:05:49Z","user_id":"2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","publist_id":"2248","day":"23","OA_type":"closed access","publisher":"The Royal Society","doi":"10.1098/rsbl.2008.0355","extern":"1","publication":"Biology Letters","pmid":1,"quality_controlled":"1","publication_status":"published","page":"670 - 673","author":[{"full_name":"Suefuji, Masaki","last_name":"Suefuji","first_name":"Masaki"},{"full_name":"Cremer, Sylvia","last_name":"Cremer","orcid":"0000-0002-2193-3868","first_name":"Sylvia","id":"2F64EC8C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87"},{"first_name":"Jan","last_name":"Oettler","full_name":"Oettler, Jan"},{"last_name":"Heinze","full_name":"Heinze, Jürgen","first_name":"Jürgen"}],"date_published":"2008-12-23T00:00:00Z","title":"Queen number influences the timing of the sexual production in colonies of Cardiocondyla ants","oa_version":"None","date_updated":"2026-06-02T08:58:39Z","issue":"6","abstract":[{"lang":"eng","text":"Wingless males of the ant genus Cardiocondyla engage in fatal fighting for access to female sexual nestmates. Older, heavily sclerotized males are usually capable of eliminating all younger rivals, whose cuticle is still soft. In Cardiocondyla sp. A, this type of local mate competition (LMC) has turned the standard pattern of brood production of social insects upside down, in that mother queens in multi-queen colonies produce extremely long-lived sons very early in the life cycle of the colony. Here, we investigated the emergence pattern of sexuals in two species with LMC, in which males are much less long-lived. Queens of Cardiocondyla obscurior and Cardiocondyla minutior reared their first sons significantly earlier in multi-queen than in single-queen societies. In addition, first female sexuals also emerged earlier in multi-queen colonies, so that early males had mating opportunities. Hence, the timing of sexual production appears to be well predicted by evolutionary theory, in particular by local mate and queen–queen competition. "}],"volume":4,"month":"12","article_type":"original","_id":"3907","status":"public","citation":{"ama":"Suefuji M, Cremer S, Oettler J, Heinze J. Queen number influences the timing of the sexual production in colonies of Cardiocondyla ants. <i>Biology Letters</i>. 2008;4(6):670-673. doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0355\">10.1098/rsbl.2008.0355</a>","apa":"Suefuji, M., Cremer, S., Oettler, J., &#38; Heinze, J. (2008). Queen number influences the timing of the sexual production in colonies of Cardiocondyla ants. <i>Biology Letters</i>. The Royal Society. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0355\">https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0355</a>","ista":"Suefuji M, Cremer S, Oettler J, Heinze J. 2008. Queen number influences the timing of the sexual production in colonies of Cardiocondyla ants. Biology Letters. 4(6), 670–673.","short":"M. Suefuji, S. Cremer, J. Oettler, J. Heinze, Biology Letters 4 (2008) 670–673.","mla":"Suefuji, Masaki, et al. “Queen Number Influences the Timing of the Sexual Production in Colonies of Cardiocondyla Ants.” <i>Biology Letters</i>, vol. 4, no. 6, The Royal Society, 2008, pp. 670–73, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0355\">10.1098/rsbl.2008.0355</a>.","ieee":"M. Suefuji, S. Cremer, J. Oettler, and J. Heinze, “Queen number influences the timing of the sexual production in colonies of Cardiocondyla ants,” <i>Biology Letters</i>, vol. 4, no. 6. The Royal Society, pp. 670–673, 2008.","chicago":"Suefuji, Masaki, Sylvia Cremer, Jan Oettler, and Jürgen Heinze. “Queen Number Influences the Timing of the Sexual Production in Colonies of Cardiocondyla Ants.” <i>Biology Letters</i>. The Royal Society, 2008. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0355\">https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0355</a>."},"article_processing_charge":"No","publication_identifier":{"issn":["1744-9561"],"eissn":["1744-957X"]},"type":"journal_article"},{"doi":"10.1098/rsbl.2007.0278","publisher":"The Royal Society","day":"21","year":"2007","intvolume":"         3","main_file_link":[{"open_access":"1","url":"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2007.0278"}],"user_id":"2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","date_created":"2020-04-30T11:02:28Z","oa":1,"language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"external_id":{"pmid":["17711817"]},"article_type":"original","abstract":[{"text":"In many species, females show reduced expression of a trait that is under sexual selection in males, and this expression is thought to be maintained through genetic associations with the male phenotype. However, there is also the potential for the female trait to convey an advantage in intrasexual conflicts over resources. We tested this hypothesis in a feral population of Soay sheep, in which males and females have a polymorphism for horn development, producing either full (normal horned), reduced (scurred) or no (polled, females only) horns. During the lambing period, females who possessed horns were more likely to initiate and win aggressive interactions, independent of age, weight and birthing status. The occurrence of aggression was also context dependent, decreasing over the lambing period and associated with local density. Our results demonstrate that a trait that confers benefits to males during intrasexual competition for mates may also be used by females in intrasexual competition over resources: males use weaponry to gain mates, whereas females use weaponry to gain food.","lang":"eng"}],"month":"08","volume":3,"date_updated":"2021-01-12T08:15:18Z","issue":"6","oa_version":"Published Version","type":"journal_article","publication_identifier":{"issn":["1744-9561","1744-957X"]},"article_processing_charge":"No","citation":{"short":"M.R. Robinson, L.E.. Kruuk, Biology Letters 3 (2007) 651–654.","ista":"Robinson MR, Kruuk LE. 2007. Function of weaponry in females: The use of horns in intrasexual competition for resources in female Soay sheep. Biology Letters. 3(6), 651–654.","chicago":"Robinson, Matthew Richard, and Loeske E.B Kruuk. “Function of Weaponry in Females: The Use of Horns in Intrasexual Competition for Resources in Female Soay Sheep.” <i>Biology Letters</i>. The Royal Society, 2007. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2007.0278\">https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2007.0278</a>.","ieee":"M. R. Robinson and L. E. . Kruuk, “Function of weaponry in females: The use of horns in intrasexual competition for resources in female Soay sheep,” <i>Biology Letters</i>, vol. 3, no. 6. The Royal Society, pp. 651–654, 2007.","mla":"Robinson, Matthew Richard, and Loeske E. .. Kruuk. “Function of Weaponry in Females: The Use of Horns in Intrasexual Competition for Resources in Female Soay Sheep.” <i>Biology Letters</i>, vol. 3, no. 6, The Royal Society, 2007, pp. 651–54, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2007.0278\">10.1098/rsbl.2007.0278</a>.","ama":"Robinson MR, Kruuk LE. Function of weaponry in females: The use of horns in intrasexual competition for resources in female Soay sheep. <i>Biology Letters</i>. 2007;3(6):651-654. doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2007.0278\">10.1098/rsbl.2007.0278</a>","apa":"Robinson, M. R., &#38; Kruuk, L. E. . (2007). Function of weaponry in females: The use of horns in intrasexual competition for resources in female Soay sheep. <i>Biology Letters</i>. The Royal Society. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2007.0278\">https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2007.0278</a>"},"_id":"7753","status":"public","publication_status":"published","page":"651-654","quality_controlled":"1","pmid":1,"publication":"Biology Letters","extern":"1","title":"Function of weaponry in females: The use of horns in intrasexual competition for resources in female Soay sheep","date_published":"2007-08-21T00:00:00Z","author":[{"full_name":"Robinson, Matthew Richard","last_name":"Robinson","orcid":"0000-0001-8982-8813","first_name":"Matthew Richard","id":"E5D42276-F5DA-11E9-8E24-6303E6697425"},{"first_name":"Loeske E.B","last_name":"Kruuk","full_name":"Kruuk, Loeske E.B"}]}]