scholarly journals The Drosophila melanogaster Seminal Fluid Protease “Seminase” Regulates Proteolytic and Post-Mating Reproductive Processes

PLoS Genetics ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. e1002435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brooke A. LaFlamme ◽  
K. Ravi Ram ◽  
Mariana F. Wolfner
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Seminal Fluid ◽  
Reproductive Processes

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

2012 ◽  
Vol 279 (1746) ◽  
pp. 4423-4432 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Gioti ◽  
S. Wigby ◽  
B. Wertheim ◽  
E. Schuster ◽  
P. Martinez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Sexual Conflict ◽  
Seminal Fluid ◽  
Nutrient Sensing ◽  
Seminal Fluid Proteins ◽  
Sex Peptide ◽  
Efficient Induction ◽  
Transcriptional Changes ◽  
Female Behaviour ◽  
Reproductive Processes

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.

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

2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1886) ◽  
pp. 20181563 ◽  
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.

The Drosophila melanogaster X-Linked mfs(1)6E Locus Is Required for Production of Normal Seminal Fluid by the Male Accessory Glands

2001 ◽  
Vol 267 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro P. López ◽  
Juán F. Santarén ◽  
M.Fernanda Ruiz ◽  
Pedro Esponda ◽  
Lucas Sánchez
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Seminal Fluid ◽  
Male Accessory Glands ◽  
Accessory Glands

Memoirs: On the Reproductive Processes of Earthworms: Part I. The Process of Copulation and Exchange of Sperms in Eutyphoeus waltoni Mich

1927 ◽  
Vol s2-71 (283) ◽  
pp. 479-502
Author(s):  
KARM NARAYAN BAHL
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Medium ◽  
Seminal Fluid ◽  
The Other ◽  
Spermathecal Duct ◽  
Prostatic Fluid ◽  
Reproductive Processes ◽  
First Time ◽  
Male Genital

1. The method of exchange of the seminal fluid in Eutyphoeus is very simple and direct as compared with the elaborate process in Lumbricus. No intermediate structures like the clitellum and temporary seminal grooves take part in the process in Eutyphoeus. 2. During sexual congress, the co-operating worms become attached to one another in a head-to-tail position in such a way that the spermathecal apertures (7/8) of one are apposed to the penial segment (seventeenth) of the other and vice versa. 3. The male ‘genital pits’ are everted to form ‘genital cups’ and the penis is protruded. The genital cups produce a suction on the area of skin surrounding the spermathecal pores of the co-operating worm, and thus cause the formation of spermathecal papillae. In this way a ‘peg and socket’ joint is formed at four places in a copulating pair and, at each joint, the attachment is intimate, the genital cup closely embracing the spermathecal papilla and the penis penetrating the spermathecal duct. 4. There is a further attachment between the ventral surfaces of the two worms by means of permanent copulating papillae and temporary integumentary outgrowths. 5. The function of the penis as an intromittent organ in Eutyphoeus has been elucidated for the first time and a distinction has been made between ‘functional’ and ‘reserve’ penial setae. 6. The exchange of sperms is mutual. The penes inject both spermatic and prostatic fluids into the spermathecae. The sperms are invariably found in the diverticula and not in the ampulla, which probably contains a secretion of its own epithelium. There is some evidence to believe that the prostatic fluid serves a nutrient medium for the sperms in the seminal chambers of the diverticula.

Memoirs: On the Reproductive Processes of the Earthworm, Lumbricus Terrestris

1925 ◽  
Vol s2-69 (274) ◽  
pp. 245-290
Author(s):  
A. J. GROVE
Keyword(s):  
Body Wall ◽  
Seminal Fluid ◽  
Lumbricus Terrestris ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Other ◽  
Reproductive Processes ◽  
Longitudinal Muscles ◽  
Earthworm Lumbricus

During the sexual congress of L.terrestris, the co-operating worms become attached to one another in a head-to-tail position in such a way that segments 9-11 of one are opposed to the clitellum of the other, and vice versa. At these points the attachment between the worms is an intimate one, assisted by the secretion of the glands associated with the diverticula of the setal pores found in certain segments, and is reinforced by the mutual penetration of the setae into the opposed body-surfaces. There is also a slighter attachment between segment 26 of one and 15 of the other. Each worm is enclosed in a slime-tube composed of mucus secreted from the epidermis. The exchange of seminal fluid is a mutual one. The fluid issues from the apertures of the vasa deferentia in segment 15, and is conducted beneath the slime-tube in pit-like depressions in the seminal grooves, which extend from segment 15 to the clitellum on each side of the body, to the clitellum, where it accumulates in the space between the lateral surfaces of segments 9-11 of one worm and the clitellum of the other. Eventually it becomes aggregated into masses in the groove between segments 9 and 10, and 10 and 11, and passes thence into the spermathecae. The seminal groove and its pit-like depressions are brought into existence by special muscles lying in the lateral blocks of longitudinal muscles of the body-wall.

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