Dr Irem Sepil

irem oz
Post-Doctoral Researcher

Research Interests

My research addresses an important but understudied aspect of reproductive ageing: declining ejaculate performance with male age. Using Drosophila melanogaster, the model organism for ageing and ejaculate research, I investigate (i) how ageing affects the male ejaculate, and variables that influence the rate of ejaculate ageing, (ii) the consequences of male reproductive ageing for sexual selection and sexual conflict. I use quantitative proteomic and cell-labelling techniques to study the age-related decline in the ejaculate; and to test the effects of lifespan-mediating interventions on ejaculate ageing. I am also interested in male reproductive strategies, sexual selection, sperm competition and life history.

Contact Details

irem.sepil@zoo.ox.ac.uk 

EGI profile

Selected Publications

Hopkins BR, Sepil I, Thezenas ML, Craig J, Miller T, Charles PD, Fischer R, Kessler BM, Bretman A, Pizzari T & Wigby S (2019) Divergent allocation of sperm and the seminal proteome along a competition gradient in male Drosophila melanogaster. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 201906149; doi: 10.1073/pnas.1906149116

 

Sepil I, Hopkins BR, Dean R, Thezenas ML, Charles PD, Konietzny R, Fischer R, Kessler BM & Wigby S (2019) Quantitative proteomics identification of seminal fluid proteins in male Drosophila melanogaster. Molecular and Cellular Proteomics, 18:S46-S58; doi: 10.1074/mcp.RA118.000831 

 

Le Page S, Sepil I, Flintham E, Pizzari T, Carazo P & Wigby S (2017) Male relatedness and familiarity are required to modulate male-induced harm to females in Drosophila. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 284:20170441; doi: 10.1098/rspb.2017.0441

 

Hopkins BR, Sepil I & Wigby S (2017) Seminal fluid. Current Biology, 27:R404 - R405; doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.03.063 

 

Sepil I, Carazo P, Perry JC & Wigby S (2016) Insulin signalling mediates the response to male-induced harm in female Drosophila melanogaster. Scientific Reports, 6, 30205; doi: 10.1038/srep30205

 

Sepil I, Radersma R, Santure AW, De Cauwer I, Slate J & Sheldon BC (2015) No evidence for MHC class I-based disassortative mating in a wild population of great tits. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 28:642–654; doi: 10.1111/jeb.12600

 

Sepil I, Lachish S, Hinks AE & Sheldon BC (2013) MHC supertypes confer both qualitative and quantitative resistance to avian malaria infections in a wild population. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 280:20130134; doi: 10.1098/rspb.2013.0134

 

Sepil I, Lachish S & Sheldon BC (2013) MHC-linked survival and lifetime reproductive success in a wild population of great tits. Molecular Ecology, 22:384-396; doi: 10.1111/mec.12123

 

Sepil I, Moghadam HK, Huchard E & Sheldon BC (2012) Characterization and 454 pyrosequencing of Major Histocompatibility Complex class I genes in the great tit reveal complexity in a passerine system. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 12:68; doi: 10.1186/1471-2148-12-68

 

View complete list of publications