Sex peptide and the sperm effect in Drosophila melanogaster

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 head+thorax (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.

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Mating and Sex Peptide Stimulate the Accumulation of Yolk in Oocytes of Drosophila Melanogaster

European Journal of Biochemistry ◽

10.1111/j.1432-1033.1997.00732.x ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 243 (3) ◽

pp. 732-738 ◽

Cited By ~ 109

Author(s):

Matthias Soller ◽

Mary Bownes ◽

Eric Kubli

Keyword(s):

Drosophila Melanogaster ◽

Sex Peptide

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Changes in Female Drosophila Sleep following Mating Are Mediated by SPSN-SAG Neurons

Journal of Biological Rhythms ◽

10.1177/0748730416668048 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 31 (6) ◽

pp. 551-567 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

David S Garbe ◽

Abigail S Vigderman ◽

Emilia Moscato ◽

Abigail E. Dove ◽

Christopher G. Vecsey ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Drosophila Melanogaster ◽

Egg Production ◽

Behavioral Responses ◽

Mating Status ◽

Peptide Receptor ◽

Dietary Preference ◽

Sex Peptide ◽

Central Brain ◽

Sleep Sex ◽

Sensorimotor Processes

Female Drosophila melanogaster, like many other organisms, exhibit different behavioral repertoires after mating with a male. These postmating responses (PMRs) include increased egg production and laying, increased rejection behavior (avoiding further male advances), decreased longevity, altered gustation and decreased sleep. Sex Peptide (SP), a protein transferred from the male during copulation, is largely responsible for many of these behavioral responses, and acts through a specific circuit to induce rejection behavior and alter dietary preference. However, less is known about the mechanisms and neurons that influence sleep in mated females. In this study, we investigated postmating changes in female sleep across strains and ages and on different media, and report that these changes are robust and relatively consistent under a variety of conditions. We find that female sleep is reduced by male-derived SP acting through the canonical sex peptide receptor (SPR) within the same neurons responsible for altering other PMRs. This circuit includes the SPSN-SAG neurons, whose silencing by DREADD induces postmating behaviors including sleep. Our data are consistent with the idea that mating status is communicated to the central brain through a common circuit that diverges in higher brain centers to modify a collection of postmating sensorimotor processes.

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Divergence in sex peptide-mediated female post-mating responses in Drosophila melanogaster

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2018.1563 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 285 (1886) ◽

pp. 20181563 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Kristina U. Wensing ◽

Claudia Fricke

Keyword(s):

Drosophila Melanogaster ◽

Seminal Fluid ◽

Lifetime Reproductive Success ◽

Fitness Costs ◽

Seminal Fluid Proteins ◽

Sex Peptide ◽

Fitness Measures ◽

Different Populations ◽

Reproductive Processes ◽

Sexually Antagonistic Coevolution

Transfer and receipt of seminal fluid proteins crucially affect reproductive processes in animals. Evolution in these male ejaculatory proteins is explained with post-mating sexual selection, but we lack a good understanding of the evolution of female post-mating responses (PMRs) to these proteins. Some of these proteins are expected to mediate sexually antagonistic coevolution generating the expectation that females evolve resistance. One candidate in Drosophila melanogaster is the sex peptide (SP) which confers cost of mating in females. In this paper, we compared female SP-induced PMRs across three D. melanogaster wild-type populations after mating with SP-lacking versus control males including fitness measures. Surprisingly, we did not find any evidence for SP-mediated fitness costs in any of the populations. However, female lifetime reproductive success and lifespan were differently affected by SP receipt indicating that female PMRs diverged among populations. Injection of synthetic SP into virgin females further supported these findings and suggests that females from different populations require different amounts of SP to effectively initiate PMRs. Molecular analyses of the SP receptor suggest that genetic differences might explain the observed phenotypical divergence. We discuss the evolutionary processes that might have caused this divergence in female PMRs.

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