title: The Spermatophore in Glossina morsitans morsitans: Insights into Male Contributions to Reproduction.
abstract: Male Seminal Fluid Proteins (SFPs) transferred during copulation modulate female reproductive physiology and behavior, impacting sperm storage/use, ovulation, oviposition, and remating receptivity. These capabilities make them ideal targets for developing novel methods of insect disease vector control. Little is known about the nature of SFPs in the viviparous tsetse flies (Diptera: Glossinidae), vectors of Human and Animal African trypanosomiasis. In tsetse, male ejaculate is assembled into a capsule-like spermatophore structure visible post-copulation in the female uterus. We applied high-throughput approaches to uncover the composition of the spermatophore in Glossina morsitans morsitans. We found that both male accessory glands and testes contribute to its formation. The male accessory glands produce a small number of abundant novel proteins with yet unknown functions, in addition to enzyme inhibitors and peptidase regulators. The testes contribute sperm in addition to a diverse array of less abundant proteins associated with binding, oxidoreductase/transferase activities, cytoskeletal and lipid/carbohydrate transporter functions. Proteins encoded by female-biased genes are also found in the spermatophore. About half of the proteins display sequence conservation relative to other Diptera, and low similarity to SFPs from other studied species, possibly reflecting both their fast evolutionary pace and the divergent nature of tsetse's viviparous biology.
authors: University of Pavia, Dept of Biology and Biotechnology, 27100 Pavia, Italy.
authors: Francesca
authors: F
authors: Scolari
authors: University of Cincinnati, McMicken School of Arts and Sciences, Dept of Biological Sciences, 45221, Cincinnati, OH, USA.|Yale School of Public Health, Dept of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, 06520, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors: Joshua B
authors: JB
authors: Benoit
authors: Yale School of Public Health, Dept of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, 06520, New Haven, CT, USA.|Section of Molecular and Applied Zoology, Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 845 06 SR, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors: Veronika
authors: V
authors: Michalkova
authors: Yale School of Public Health, Dept of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, 06520, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors: Emre
authors: E
authors: Aksoy
authors: Section of Molecular and Applied Zoology, Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 845 06 SR, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Takac
authors: International Atomic Energy Agency, Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, IPC Laboratory, A-1400, Vienna, Austria.
authors: Adly M M
authors: AM
authors: Abd-Alla
authors: University of Pavia, Dept of Biology and Biotechnology, 27100 Pavia, Italy.
authors: Anna R
authors: AR
authors: Malacrida
authors: Yale School of Public Health, Dept of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, 06520, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors: Serap
authors: S
authors: Aksoy
authors: Yale School of Public Health, Dept of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, 06520, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors: Geoffrey M
authors: GM
authors: Attardo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D055028:Comparative Genomic Hybridization; D030562:Databases, Protein; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D020543:Proteome / Q000032:analysis; D012098:Reproduction / Q000502:physiology*; D013093:Spermatogonia / Q000378:metabolism*; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry; D014370:Tsetse Flies / Q000378:metabolism*; D014599:Uterus / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D019476:Insect Proteins; D020543:Proteome