Time series RNA-seq of the Drosophila melanogaster female response to mating and Sex Peptide.

ABSTRACT: Sex Peptide, a seminal fluid protein of Drosophila melanogaster males, elicits an array of post-mating responses in females, including decreased receptivity to re-mating, and increased egg laying, activity and food intake, with a preference for protein-rich food. To determine how one protein can have such widespread effects, we set out to dissect the genetic architecture of the female’s response to Sex Peptide, to determine whether Sex Peptide alters the expression of several regulators targeted to specific post-mating responses or acts on a pleiotropic regulator that controls multiple responses. We performed bulk RNA-seq of female heads at 10 time points within the first 24 hours after mating, sampling virgin females, females mated to control males and females mated to Sex Peptide-null males. Using this high-resolution time series, we identified mating- and Sex Peptide-dependent differentially expressed genes and discovered the presence of differentially used exons. We constructed gene regulatory networks using clustering and motif enrichment analyses, and identified cell types in which these changes might take place using deconvolution of our bulk RNA-seq dataset. One key network included metabolic genes which might change in expression in the female’s fat body. A second network included genes with neuronal functions, whose changes might be located in neurons or sensory organs in the female’s head. Within these networks we identified known molecular regulators of the circadian clock. Further, we found that many differentially expressed genes, and some differentially used exons, followed a circadian rhythm in virgin females, and that this rhythm was altered after mating with a Sex Peptide- male.

ORGANISM(S): Drosophila melanogaster

PROVIDER: GSE198879 | GEO | 2023/01/27

REPOSITORIES: GEO