Abstract
BackgroundDrosophila melanogaster females show changes in behavior and physiology after mating that are thought to maximize the number of progeny resulting from the most recent copulation. Sperm and seminal fluid proteins induce post-mating changes in females, however, very little is known about the resulting gene expression changes in female head and central nervous system tissues that contribute to the post-mating response.ResultsWe determined the temporal gene expression changes in female head tissues 0-2, 24, 48 and 72 hours after mating. Females from each time point had a unique post-mating gene expression response, with 72 hours post-mating having the largest number of genes with significant changes in expression. At most time points, genes expressed in the head fat body that encode products involved in metabolism showed a marked change in expression. Additional analysis of gene expression changes in dissected brain tissues 24 hours post-mating revealed changes in transcript abundance of many genes, notably, the reduced transcript abundance of genes that encode ion channels.ConclusionsSubstantial changes occur in the regulation of many genes in female head tissues after mating, which might underlie aspects of the female post-mating response. These results provide new insights into the physiological and metabolic changes that accompany changes in female behaviors.
Highlights
Drosophila melanogaster females show changes in behavior and physiology after mating that are thought to maximize the number of progeny resulting from the most recent copulation
Biological processes that underlie the post-mating response in head tissues To gain insight into the types of biological processes that are responsive to mating in adult head tissues, we focused our analysis on the top 100 genes which showed significantly altered expression, based on false-discovery rank (FDR), from each time point (Additional file 1)
Given that many of the changes in expression affect genes that encode products involved in metabolism, it is not clear if this is a direct response to receipt of sperm and seminal fluid, or due to social interactions that occur during courtship and mating
Summary
Drosophila melanogaster females show changes in behavior and physiology after mating that are thought to maximize the number of progeny resulting from the most recent copulation. Sperm and seminal fluid proteins induce post-mating changes in females, very little is known about the resulting gene expression changes in female head and central nervous system tissues that contribute to the post-mating response. Successful reproduction in Drosophila melanogaster requires the interplay of behavioral repertoires performed by males and females, which include male courtship, female receptivity, copulation, and female post-mating responses. Females are biochemically poised to respond to sperm, proteins, and other molecules transferred during copulation, which induce the postmating response. This response, which lasts about a week, includes reduced receptivity to mating, metabolic changes, increased immunity and the physiological changes that accompany sperm storage, fertilization and egg-laying [reviewed in [1,2]].
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