Wilson Thomas G, DeMoor Sarah, Lei Jennifer
Department of Entomology, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
Insect Biochem Mol Biol. 2003 Dec;33(12):1167-75. doi: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2003.06.007.
Juvenile hormone (JH) involvement in male reproduction is poorly understood. In Drosophila melanogaster adults, JH deficiency has been shown to result in lowered protein synthesis in male accessory glands. To probe additional roles, we have examined males homozygous for a null allele of Methoprene-tolerant (Met). This gene is involved in the action of JH, possibly at the JH receptor level, and Met(27) null mutants reflect a diminution of JH action. Met(27) males were found to have reduced protein accumulation in male accessory glands and to court and mate wild-type females much less avidly than do either Met(+) or Met(27); Met(+) transgenic males. Exposure of Met(27) males to methoprene partially rescued the courtship deficiency. However, sperm transfer as reflected by fertility of Met(27) fathers was found to be similar to that of Met(+). Taken together with previous work examining the JH-deficient mutant apterous, these results corroborate JH involvement in protein synthesis in the male accessory glands and suggest a role for JH in promoting male mating behavior in these flies.
保幼激素（JH）在雄性生殖中的作用尚不清楚。在黑腹果蝇成虫中，已证明保幼激素缺乏会导致雄性附腺中蛋白质合成减少。为了探究其其他作用，我们研究了耐甲氧普烯（Met）无效等位基因的纯合雄性果蝇。该基因参与保幼激素的作用，可能作用于保幼激素受体水平，Met(27)无效突变体反映了保幼激素作用的减弱。发现Met(27)雄性果蝇在雄性附腺中的蛋白质积累减少，与Met(+)或Met(27);Met(+)转基因雄性果蝇相比，向野生型雌性果蝇求爱和交配的积极性要低得多。将Met(27)雄性果蝇暴露于甲氧普烯可部分挽救求爱缺陷。然而，Met(27)雄蝇父亲的生育力所反映的精子转移情况与Met(+)雄蝇相似。结合之前对保幼激素缺乏突变体apterous的研究工作，这些结果证实了保幼激素参与雄性附腺中的蛋白质合成，并表明保幼激素在促进这些果蝇的雄性交配行为中发挥作用。
