title: Genetic and phenotypic influences on copulatory plug survival in mice.
abstract: Across a diversity of animals, male seminal fluid coagulates upon ejaculation to form a hardened structure known as a copulatory plug. Previous studies suggest that copulatory plugs evolved as a mechanism for males to impede remating by females, but detailed investigations into the time course over which plugs survive in the female's reproductive tract are lacking. Here, we cross males from eight inbred strains to females from two inbred strains of house mice (Mus musculus domesticus). Plug survival was significantly affected by male genotype. Against intuition, plug survival time was negatively correlated with plug size: long-lasting plugs were small and relatively more susceptible to proteolysis. Plug size was associated with divergence in major protein composition of seminal vesicle fluid, suggesting that changes in gene expression may play an important role in plug dynamics. In contrast, we found no correlation to genetic variation in the protein-coding regions of five genes thought to be important in copulatory plug formation (Tgm4, Svs1, Svs2, Svs4 and Svs5). Our study demonstrates a complex relationship between copulatory plug characteristics and survival. We discuss several models to explain unexpected variation in plug phenotypes.
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Computational Biology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mangels
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Computational Biology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Young
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Computational Biology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.|Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Keeble
authors.affiliation: Translational Imaging Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ardekani
authors.affiliation: Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Meslin
authors.affiliation: Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: N L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.affiliation: Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Good
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Computational Biology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Dean
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003307:Copulation; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D059472:Exome; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains / Q000235:genetics*; D010641:Phenotype; D020543:Proteome / Q000235:genetics; D012098:Reproduction / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D012661:Semen / Q000502:physiology; D029607:Seminal Vesicle Secretory Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D011503:Transglutaminases / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D020543:Proteome; C520624:SVS2 protein, mouse; C573954:SVS4 protein, mouse; D029607:Seminal Vesicle Secretory Proteins; D011503:Transglutaminases