Functions and analysis of the seminal fluid proteins of male Drosophila melanogaster fruit flies

Chapman, Tracey; Davies, S. J.

doi:10.1016/j.peptides.2003.10.023

Cited by 212 publications

(197 citation statements)

References 107 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

194

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Mates of Acp29AB-deficient males do not show altered postmating behaviors: Stored sperm are required for several aspects of the female postmating response, including increased egg laying and decreased willingness to remate (Manning 1962(Manning , 1967Chapman and Davies 2004;Ravi Ram and Wolfner 2007a). Given the sperm storage phenotype of Acp29AB 1 males, we tested whether mates of Acp29AB 1 males showed altered egg-laying or remating behaviors.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Role for Acp29AB, a Predicted Seminal Fluid Lectin, in Female Sperm Storage inDrosophila melanogaster

et al. 2008

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Females of many animal species store sperm for taxon-specific periods of time, ranging from a few hours to years. Female sperm storage has important reproductive and evolutionary consequences, yet relatively little is known of its molecular basis. Here, we report the isolation of a loss-of-function mutation of the Drosophila melanogaster Acp29AB gene, which encodes a seminal fluid protein that is transferred from males to females during mating. Using this mutant, we show that Acp29AB is required for the normal maintenance of sperm in storage. Consistent with this role, Acp29AB localizes to female sperm storage organs following mating, although it does not appear to associate tightly with sperm. Acp29AB is a predicted lectin, suggesting that sugar-protein interactions may be important for D. melanogaster sperm storage, much as they are in many mammals. Previous association studies have found an effect of Acp29AB genotype on a male's sperm competitive ability; our findings suggest that effects on sperm storage may underlie these differences in sperm competition. Moreover, Acp29AB's effects on sperm storage and sperm competition may explain previously documented evidence for positive selection on the Acp29AB locus.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Role for Acp29AB, a Predicted Seminal Fluid Lectin, in Female Sperm Storage inDrosophila melanogaster

et al. 2008

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Characterizing condition dependence in ejaculate traits is an exciting challenge because these traits are important arenas for sperm competition, cryptic female choice and sexual conflict (Chapman & Davies 2004;Eberhard 2009). We have provided the first evidence, to our knowledge, supporting the prediction that condition influences allocation to distinct ejaculate components.…”

Section: (D) Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Condition-dependent ejaculate size and composition in a ladybird beetle

Perry

Rowe

2010

Proc. R. Soc. B.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sexually selected male ejaculate traits are expected to depend on the resource state of males. Theory predicts that males in good condition will produce larger ejaculates, but that ejaculate composition will depend on the relative production costs of ejaculate components and the risk of sperm competition experienced by low-and high-condition males. Under some conditions, when low condition leads to poorer performance in sperm competition, males in low condition may produce ejaculates with higher sperm content relative to their total ejaculate and may even transfer more sperm than high-condition males in an absolute sense. Previous studies in insects have shown that males in good condition transfer larger ejaculates or more sperm, but it has not been clear whether increased sperm content represents a shift in allocation or simply a larger ejaculate, and thus the condition dependence of ejaculate composition has been largely untested. We examined condition dependence in ejaculate by manipulating adult male condition in a ladybird beetle (Adalia bipunctata) in which males transfer three distinct ejaculate components during mating: sperm, non-sperm ejaculate retained within the female reproductive tract, and a spermatophore capsule that females eject and ingest following mating. We found that high condition males indeed transferred larger ejaculates, potentially achieved by an increased rate of ejaculate transfer, and allocated less to sperm compared with low-condition males. Low-condition males transferred ejaculates with absolutely and proportionally more sperm. This study provides the first experimental evidence for a condition-dependent shift in ejaculate composition.

show abstract

“…Insights into the molecular interplay between males and females have been gained through economic studies of single genes [2,8,9], studies of fitness effects of interactions between different male and female genotypes [1,10], the characterization of male and female reproductive proteins [3,11] and the measurement of genome-wide responses to mating [12 -17]. Of these methods, only genome-wide studies can identify the overall extent to which male and female transcriptomes are altered when the sexes interact, and they offer a valuable opportunity to probe the underlying basis of the interacting pathways involved.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex peptide of Drosophila melanogaster males is a global regulator of reproductive processes in females

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Seminal fluid proteins (Sfps) alter female behaviour and physiology and can mediate sexual conflict. In Drosophila melanogaster, a single Sfp, the sex peptide (SP), triggers remarkable post-mating responses in females, including altered fecundity, feeding, immunity and sexual receptivity. These effects can favour the evolutionary interests of males while generating costs in females. We tested the hypothesis that SP is an upstream master-regulator able to induce diverse phenotypes through efficient induction of widespread transcriptional changes in females. We profiled mRNA responses to SP in adult female abdomen (Abd) and headþthorax (HT) tissues using microarrays at 3 and 6 h following mating. SP elicited a rich, subtle signature of temporally and spatially controlled mRNAs. There were significant alterations to genes linked to egg development, early embryogenesis, immunity, nutrient sensing, behaviour and, unexpectedly, phototransduction. There was substantially more variation in the direction of differential expression across time points in the HT versus Abd. The results support the idea that SP is an important regulator of gene expression in females. The expression of many genes in one sex can therefore be under the influence of a regulator expressed in the other. This could influence the extent of sexual conflict both within and between loci.

show abstract

Functions and analysis of the seminal fluid proteins of male Drosophila melanogaster fruit flies

Cited by 212 publications

References 107 publications

A Role for Acp29AB, a Predicted Seminal Fluid Lectin, in Female Sperm Storage inDrosophila melanogaster

A Role for Acp29AB, a Predicted Seminal Fluid Lectin, in Female Sperm Storage inDrosophila melanogaster

Condition-dependent ejaculate size and composition in a ladybird beetle

Sex peptide of Drosophila melanogaster males is a global regulator of reproductive processes in females

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About