A mating plug protein reduces early female remating in Drosophila melanogaster

Bretman, Amanda, Lawniczak, Mara K. N., Boone, James and Chapman, Tracey (2009) A mating plug protein reduces early female remating in Drosophila melanogaster. Journal of Insect Physiology, 56 (1). pp. 107-113. ISSN 1879-1611

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Abstract

Mating plugs are formed within the female reproductive tract during mating from male ejaculate constituents or even from male genitalia themselves. Across species, mating plugs have roles in sperm storage and the prevention of female remating. In the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster, accessory gland proteins such as the sex peptide are known to reduce female remating, however this effect can take some time to establish, hence other ejaculate components must also be involved. We hypothesised a role for the PEBII mating plug protein in the prevention of early female remating. Using RNA interference we produced PEBII knockdown males. We found that these males were significantly less able to prevent female remating in the 4 h following mating. The mating plugs produced by PEBII knockdown males also showed lower levels of autofluorescence in the first 10 min after the start of mating, suggesting they differed in composition to those of control males. Reduced levels of PEBII had no effect, however, on fecundity, progeny production or egg–adult viability in the first 24 after mating, suggesting there were no short-term effects of PEB II on sperm transfer, storage or use. Our results show that PEBII has a subtle but significant role in the prevention of early female remating.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Biological Sciences
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Organisms and the Environment
Depositing User:	EPrints Services
Date Deposited:	01 Oct 2010 13:36
Last Modified:	16 May 2023 00:13
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/281
DOI:	10.1016/j.jinsphys.2009.09.010

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