Dataset Information

Severe Fertility Effects of sheepish Sperm Caused by Failure To Enter Female Sperm Storage Organs in Drosophila melanogaster.

ABSTRACT: In Drosophila, mature sperm are transferred from males to females during copulation, stored in the sperm storage organs of females, and then utilized for fertilization. Here, we report a gene named sheepish (shps) of Drosophila melanogaster that is essential for sperm storage in females. shps mutant males, although producing morphologically normal and motile sperm that are effectively transferred to females, produce very few offspring. Direct counts of sperm indicated that the primary defect was correlated to failure of shps sperm to migrate into the female sperm storage organs. Increased sperm motion parameters were seen in the control after transfer to females, whereas sperm from shps males have characteristics of the motion parameters different from the control. The few sperm that occasionally entered the female sperm storage organs showed no obvious defects in fertilization and early embryo development. The female postmating responses after copulation with shps males appeared normal, at least with respect to conformational changes of uterus, mating plug formation, and female remating rates. The shps gene encodes a protein with homology to amine oxidases, including as observed in mammals, with a transmembrane region at the C-terminal end. The shps mutation was characterized by a nonsense replacement in the third exon of CG13611, and shps was rescued by transformants of the wild-type copy of CG13611 Thus, shps may define a new class of gene responsible for sperm storage.

SUBMITTER: Tomaru M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5765343 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Severe Fertility Effects of sheepish Sperm Caused by Failure To Enter Female Sperm Storage Organs in Drosophila melanogaster.

Tomaru Masatoshi M Ohsako Takashi T Watanabe Masahide M Juni Naoto N Matsubayashi Hiroshi H Sato Hiromi H Takahashi Ayako A Yamamoto Masa-Toshi MT

G3 (Bethesda, Md.) 20180104 1

In Drosophila, mature sperm are transferred from males to females during copulation, stored in the sperm storage organs of females, and then utilized for fertilization. Here, we report a gene named sheepish (shps) of Drosophila melanogaster that is essential for sperm storage in females. shps mutant males, although producing morphologically normal and motile sperm that are effectively transferred to females, produce very few offspring. Direct counts of sperm in ...[more]

PMID: 29158336

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Project description:BackgroundMale-derived seminal fluid proteins (SFPs) that enter female fruitflies during mating induce a myriad of physiological and behavioral changes, optimizing fertility of the mating pair. Some post-mating changes in female Drosophila melanogaster persist for ~10-14 days. Their long-term persistence is because the seminal protein that induces these particular changes, the Sex Peptide (SP), is retained long term in females by binding to sperm, with gradual release of its active domain from sperm. Several other "long-term response SFPs" (LTR-SFPs) "prime" the binding of SP to sperm. Whether female factors play a role in this process is unknown, though it is important to study both sexes for a comprehensive physiological understanding of SFP/sperm interactions and for consideration in models of sexual conflict.ResultsWe report here that sperm in male ejaculates bind SP more weakly than sperm that have entered females. Moreover, we show that the amount of SP, and other SFPs, bound to sperm increases with time and transit of individual seminal proteins within the female reproductive tract (FRT). Thus, female contributions are needed for maximal and appropriate binding of SP, and other SFPs, to sperm. Towards understanding the source of female molecular contributions, we ablated spermathecal secretory cells (SSCs) and/or parovaria (female accessory glands), which contribute secretory proteins to the FRT. We found no dramatic change in the initial levels of SP bound to sperm stored in mated females with ablated or defective SSCs and/or parovaria, indicating that female molecules that facilitate the binding of SP to sperm are not uniquely derived from SSCs and parovaria. However, we observed higher levels of SP (and sperm) retention long term in females whose SSCs and parovaria had been ablated, indicating secretions from these female tissues are necessary for the gradual release of Sex Peptide's active region from stored sperm.ConclusionThis study reveals that the SP-sperm binding pathway is not entirely male-derived and that female contributions are needed to regulate the levels of SP associated with sperm stored in their storage sites.

Dataset Information

Severe Fertility Effects of sheepish Sperm Caused by Failure To Enter Female Sperm Storage Organs in Drosophila melanogaster.

Publications

Severe Fertility Effects of <i>sheepish</i> Sperm Caused by Failure To Enter Female Sperm Storage Organs in <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i>.

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