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Post-mating expression of female Drosophila melanogaster genomes experimentally evolved under different post-copulatory sexual selection regimes

ABSTRACT: By combining an experimental evolution approach with genomic techniques, we investigated the effects of seminal fluid on female gene expression. In our study, we experimentally manipulated the mating system in replicate populations of D. melanogaster, by removing post-copulatory sexual selection, with the aim of testing differences in short term post-mating reaction of females evolved under different mating strategies. We show that monogamous females suffer decreased fecundity, regardless of the type of male they were mated with, and that their post-mating gene expression profiles differ significantly from promiscuous females, involving 1141 transcripts (9% of the genes tested). These transcripts are active in several tissues, mainly ovaries, neural tissues, midgut and spermathecae, and are involved in metabolic processes, reproduction and signaling pathways. Our results provide a list of candidate genes responsible for the decrease in female fecundity in the absence of post-copulatory sexual selection, and demonstrate how the female post-mating response can evolve under different mating systems over relatively short time frames.

ORGANISM(S): Drosophila melanogaster

PROVIDER: GSE48385 | GEO | 2014/01/01

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA209893

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Globally invasive Aedes aegypti mosquitoes disseminate numerous arboviruses that impact human health. One promising method to control Ae. aegypti populations is transinfection with the intracellular bacterium Wolbachia pipientis, a symbiont that naturally infects ~40-52% of insects but is normally absent from Ae. aegypti. Transinfection of Ae. aegypti with the wMel Wolbachia strain induces cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), allowing infected individuals to rapidly invade native populations. Further, wMel Wolbachia-infected females display refractoriness to medically relevant arboviruses. Thus, wMel Wolbachia-infected Ae. aegypti are being released in several areas to replace native populations, thereby suppressing disease transmission by this species. Wolbachia is reported to have minimal effects on Ae. aegypti fertility, but its influence on other reproductive processes is unknown. Female insects undergo several post-mating physiological and behavioral changes required for optimal fertility. Post-mating responses (PMRs) in female insects are typically elicited by receipt of male seminal fluid proteins (SFPs) transferred with sperm during mating, but can be modified by other factors, such as adult age, nutritional status, and microbiome composition. To assess how Wolbachia infection influences Ae. aegypti female PMRs, we collected wMel Wolbachia-infected Ae. aegypti from the field in Medellín, Colombia and introduced the bacterium into our laboratory strain. We found that Wolbachia influences female fecundity, fertility, and re-mating incidence. Further, we observed that Wolbachia significantly extends longevity of virgin females. Changes in female PMRs are not due to defects in sperm transfer by infected males, or sperm storage by infected females. Using proteomic methods to examine the seminal proteome of infected males, we found that Wolbachia infection has a moderate effect on SFP composition. However, we identified 125 Wolbachia proteins that are paternally transferred to females by infected males. Surprisingly, the CI factor proteins (Cifs), were not detected in the ejaculates of Wolbachia-infected males. Our findings indicate that Wolbachia infection of Ae. aegypti alters female post-mating responses, potentially influencing control programs that utilize Wolbachia-infected individuals.

Project description:In Drosophila melanogaster, mating radically transforms female physiology and behavior. Post-mating responses include an increase in the oviposition rate, a reduction in female receptivity, and an activation of the immune system . The fitness consequences of mating are similarly dramatic – females must mate once in order to produce fertile eggs, but additional matings have a clear negative effect. Previously, microarrays have been used to examine gene expression of females differing in their reproductive status with the aim of identifying genes influenced by mating. However, since only virgin and single mated females were compared, transcriptional changes associated with reproduction (under natural selection) and the effects of male-induced harm (under sexually antagonistic selection) cannot be disentangled. We partitioned these fundamentally different effects by instead examining the expression profiles of virgin, single mated and double mated females. We found substantial effects relating to reproduction and further effects that are only attributable to a second mating. Immune response genes dominate this male-induced harm effect indicating that the cost of mating may be due partly to this system's activation. We propose that both sexually antagonistic and natural selection have been important in the evolution of the innate immunity genes, thereby contributing to the sexual dimorphismand rapid evolution at these loci. Keywords: Female response to mating Female flies were flash frozen in liquid nitrogen either as virgins or 6 hours after mating and stored at -80°C until RNA extraction was performed (not more than 2 days). 8 whole flies – randomly selected within each treatment – were pooled for each extraction. Total RNA was extracted using Trizol (Invitrogen) and purified with an RNeasy Mini Kit (Qiagen). RNA quantity and quality was checked with an Agilent Bioanalyzer. According to the manufacturer's instructions, samples were prepared and hybridized to Affymetrix GeneChip Drosophila Genome 2.0 (Affymetrix, Santa Clara, CA, USA) by the Uppsala Array Platform (Uppsala, Sweden). Each experimental treatment consisted of 4 independent RNA extractions and hybridizations, giving a total of 12 arrays.

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Post-mating expression of female Drosophila melanogaster genomes experimentally evolved under different post-copulatory sexual selection regimes

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