scholarly journals Mating activates the heme peroxidase HPX15 in the sperm storage organ to ensure fertility in Anopheles gambiae

2014 ◽  
Vol 111 (16) ◽  
pp. 5854-5859 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. R. Shaw ◽  
E. Teodori ◽  
S. N. Mitchell ◽  
F. Baldini ◽  
P. Gabrieli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anopheles Gambiae ◽  
Sperm Storage ◽  
Storage Organ ◽  
Heme Peroxidase

The Effects of the sphragis on male and female genitalia in Acraea (Nymphalidae) butterflies

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shannon L Summers ◽  
Akito Y Kawahara ◽  
Ana P. S. Carvalho
Keyword(s):  
Interspecific Variation ◽  
Sperm Storage ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Museum Collections ◽  
Storage Organ ◽  
Mating Plug ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Comparison And Analysis ◽  
Imagej Software ◽  
Sexually Antagonistic Coevolution

Male mating plugs have been used in many species to prevent female re-mating and sperm competition. One of the most extreme examples of a mating plug is the sphragis, which is a large, complex and externalized plug found only in butterflies. This structure is found in many species in the genus Acraea (Nymphalidae) and provides an opportunity for investigation of the effects of the sphragis on the morphology of the genitalia, which is poorly understood. This study aims to understand morphological interspecific variation in the genitalia of Acraea butterflies. Using specimens from museum collections, abdomen dissections were conducted on 19 species of Acraea: 9 sphragis bearing and 10 non-sphragis bearing species. Genitalia imaging was performed for easier comparison and analysis and measurements of genitalia structures was done using ImageJ software. Some distinguishing morphological features in the females were found. The most obvious difference is the larger and more externalized copulatory opening in sphragis bearing species, with varying degrees of external projections. Females of the sphragis bearing species also tend to have a shorter ductus (the structure that connects the copulatory opening with the sperm storage organ) than those without the sphragis. These differences may be due to a sexually antagonistic coevolution between the males and females, where the females evolve larger and more difficult to plug copulatory openings and the males attempt to prevent re-mating with the sphragis.

A mating plug in a squid? Sneaker spermatophores can block the female sperm-storage organ in Doryteuthis plei

Zoology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 130 ◽  
pp. 47-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luiza O. Saad ◽  
Thomas Schwaha ◽  
Stephan Handschuh ◽  
Andreas Wanninger ◽  
José E.A.R. Marian
Keyword(s):  
Sperm Storage ◽  
Storage Organ ◽  
Mating Plug

scholarly journals Disposable penis and its replenishment in a simultaneous hermaphrodite

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 20121150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayami Sekizawa ◽  
Satoko Seki ◽  
Masakazu Tokuzato ◽  
Sakiko Shiga ◽  
Yasuhiro Nakashima
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Outer Surface ◽  
Mating Behaviour ◽  
Sperm Storage ◽  
Simultaneous Hermaphrodite ◽  
Storage Organ ◽  
Simultaneous Hermaphrodites

Although it is often thought that sexual selection is weaker in simultaneous hermaphrodites than in gonochorists, some simultaneous hermaphrodites exhibit bizarre mating behaviour. In the simultaneously hermaphroditic nudibranch Chromodoris reticulata , we found a peculiar mating behaviour, wherein the nudibranch autotomized its penis after each copulation and was able to copulate again within 24 h. To have sufficient length to be replenished for three copulations, the penis is compressed and spiralled internally. No other animal is known to repeatedly copulate using such ‘disposable penes’. Entangled sperm masses were observed on the outer surface of the autotomized penis, which is equipped with many backward-pointed spines. There is a possibility that the nudibranch removes sperm already stored in a mating partner's sperm storage organ(s).

scholarly journals HIGH TEMPERATURES REVEAL CRYPTIC GENETIC VARIATION IN A POLYMORPHIC FEMALE SPERM STORAGE ORGAN

Evolution ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 65 (10) ◽  
pp. 2830-2842 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Berger ◽  
Stephanie Sandra Bauerfeind ◽  
Wolf Ulrich Blanckenhorn ◽  
Martin Andreas Schäfer
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
High Temperatures ◽  
Sperm Storage ◽  
Storage Organ ◽  
Cryptic Genetic Variation

Differential survival of allosperm by location within the female storage organ of the snail Cornu aspersum

2008 ◽  
Vol 86 (11) ◽  
pp. 1244-1251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald Chase ◽  
Emily Darbyson
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Sperm Competition ◽  
Female Choice ◽  
Complex Structure ◽  
Sperm Storage ◽  
Storage Organ ◽  
Differential Survival ◽  
Cornu Aspersum ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Epithelial Wall

The sperm storage organ of terrestrial gastropod molluscs is implicated in sexual selection because it has a complex structure and it functions in a context of intense sperm competition. Received sperm are stored in spermathecal tubules. In our sample using the brown garden snail ( Cornu aspersum (Müller, 1774)) (n = 58), the mean number of tubules per animal was 16, with lengths ranging from ≤40 to 2480 μm. A hereditary influence on tubule number was indicated by clutch-dependent variations. From histological sections, we counted the spermatozoa that were present in the tubules of ex-virgin snails 1, 2, 4, and 8 weeks after mating (n = 40). Sperm were distributed, on average, across 75% of the tubules in individual snails, thus contradicting one proposed mechanism for cryptic female choice. The total number of sperm declined 66% over 8 weeks, with the largest losses incurred by sperm in the lumens of the tubules and sperm gathered in clusters. By contrast, in the same period, the numbers of sperm that were in contact with the walls of the tubules remained relatively stable. These data imply that sperm survive best when attached to the epithelial wall, either because they derive nutrition from the epithelium or because they use the epithelium as an anchor.

scholarly journals Costs and benefits of giant sperm and sperm storage organs in Drosophila melanogaster

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Zajitschek ◽  
Felix Zajitschek ◽  
Sarah Josway ◽  
Reem Al Shabeeb ◽  
Halli Weiner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seminal Receptacle ◽  
Fertilization Success ◽  
Inbred Lines ◽  
Sperm Storage ◽  
Sperm Length ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Female Fitness ◽  
Storage Organ ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Storage Organs

ABSTRACTIn the Drosophila lineage, both sperm and the primary female sperm storage organ, the seminal receptacle (SR), may reach extraordinary lengths. In D. melanogaster, long SRs bias fertilization toward long sperm during the displacement stage of sperm competition. This sperm-SR interaction, together with a genetic correlation between the traits, suggests that the coevolution of exaggerated sperm and SR lengths may be driven by Fisherian runaway selection. To further understand the costs and benefits of long sperm and SR genotypes in both sexes, we measured male and female fitness in inbred lines of D. melanogaster derived from four populations previously selected for long sperm, short sperm, long SRs, or short SRs. We specifically asked: do long SRs impose costs or benefits on the females that bear them? Do genotypes that generate long sperm in males impose a fitness cost on females sharing those genotypes? Is long sperm an honest indicator of male viability and associated with increased fitness? And finally, are the benefits of long sperm restricted to competitive fertilization success, or do long-sperm males also have increased mating success and fecundity in single matings? We found that both sexes have increased longevity in long sperm and long SR genotypes, with fewer reproduction-related benefits and evidence for trade-offs in males, compared to females. Our results suggest that sperm length and SR length are both indicators of increased viability.

scholarly journals Mating and blood-feeding induce transcriptome changes in the spermathecae of the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolina Camargo ◽  
Yasir H. Ahmed-Braimah ◽  
I. Alexandra Amaro ◽  
Laura C. Harrington ◽  
Mariana F. Wolfner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Aedes Aegypti ◽  
Blood Meal ◽  
Transcriptional Response ◽  
Blood Feeding ◽  
Sperm Storage ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
Gene Products ◽  
Heme Peroxidase ◽  
Males And Females

Abstract Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are the primary vectors of numerous viruses that impact human health. As manipulation of reproduction has been proposed to suppress mosquito populations, elucidation of biological processes that enable males and females to successfully reproduce is necessary. One essential process is female sperm storage in specialized structures called spermathecae. Aedes aegypti females typically mate once, requiring them to maintain sperm viably to fertilize eggs they lay over their lifetime. Spermathecal gene products are required for Drosophila sperm storage and sperm viability, and a spermathecal-derived heme peroxidase is required for long-term Anopheles gambiae fertility. Products of the Ae. aegypti spermathecae, and their response to mating, are largely unknown. Further, although female blood-feeding is essential for anautogenous mosquito reproduction, the transcriptional response to blood-ingestion remains undefined in any reproductive tissue. We conducted an RNAseq analysis of spermathecae from unfed virgins, mated only, and mated and blood-fed females at 6, 24, and 72 h post-mating and identified significant differentially expressed genes in each group at each timepoint. A blood-meal following mating induced a greater transcriptional response in the spermathecae than mating alone. This study provides the first view of elicited mRNA changes in the spermathecae by a blood-meal in mated females.

scholarly journals Multiple sperm storage organs facilitate female control of paternity

2005 ◽  
Vol 272 (1568) ◽  
pp. 1139-1144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay S.E Snow ◽  
Maydianne C.B Andrade
Keyword(s):  
Sperm Storage ◽  
Conclusive Evidence ◽  
Sperm Precedence ◽  
Storage Organ ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Storage Organs ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Female Control ◽  
Latrodectus Hasselti ◽  
Normally Distributed

It has been proposed that multiple sperm storage organs (spermathecae) could allow polyandrous females to control paternity. There is little conclusive evidence for this since insemination of individual spermathecae is generally not experimentally manipulable. Here, we examined sperm use patterns in the Australian redback spider ( Latrodectus hasselti ), which has paired, independent spermathecae. We assessed paternity when two rivals were forced to inseminate a single storage organ or opposite storage organs. When males inseminated a single spermatheca, mean paternity of the female's first mate was 79.8% (median 89.4%), and 38% of first mates achieved 100% paternity. In contrast, when males inseminated opposite organs, the mean paternity of the first mate was 49.3% (median 49.9%), only 10% of males achieved complete precedence, and paternity was normally distributed, suggesting sperm mixing. Males responded to this difference by avoiding previously inseminated female reproductive tracts. Complete sperm precedence can only be achieved if females permit males to copulate with both reproductive tracts. Females often cannibalize smaller males during their first copulation, thus limiting their paternity to 50%. These data show that multiple sperm storage organs can increase female control of paternity.

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