Monsma S A, Harada H A, Wolfner M F
Section of Genetics and Development, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853-2703.
Dev Biol. 1990 Dec;142(2):465-75. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(90)90368-s.
The male accessory gland of Drosophila is an adult secretory tissue which contributes many products to the male ejaculatory fluid. The secretions of the accessory gland affect the behavior and physiology of the female fly after mating, reducing her receptivity to courtship and stimulating egg production and oviposition. We have examined the developmental and mating-stimulated expression of two accessory gland proteins in the male and their transfer to and fates in the mated female. One of these proteins, msP 355a, has features of a prohormone and contains a region with amino acid sequence similarity to the egg-laying hormone of Aplysia; the other, msP 355b, is a small acidic protein. Both proteins are first detected in the accessory gland only after eclosion, although their transcripts are already present in late pupae. Both proteins are initially detected in the two morphologically distinct secretory cell types of the accessory gland, the main cells, and the secondary cells. In the glands of aged virgin males, they are only detected in the large vesicles of the secondary cells and in the lumen of the gland. Copulation results in an increase in the mRNAs for both proteins, as well as renewed translation of the proteins at least in the main cells. Both proteins are transferred to the female genital tract during copulation, and rapidly enter the female hemolymph. msP 355a is subject to rapid and specific cleavage within the female genital tract, but not in the hemolymph; msP 355b is not cleaved in either the female genital tract or the hemolymph.
果蝇的雄性附腺是一种成年分泌组织，它为雄性射精液贡献了许多产物。附腺的分泌物会影响雌蝇交配后的行为和生理状态，降低其对求爱的接受度，并刺激产卵和排卵。我们研究了两种附腺蛋白在雄性中的发育和交配刺激表达，以及它们在交配后的雌性体内的转移和命运。其中一种蛋白，msP 355a，具有前激素的特征，并且包含一个与海兔产卵激素氨基酸序列相似的区域；另一种，msP 355b，是一种小的酸性蛋白。这两种蛋白在羽化后才首次在附腺中被检测到，尽管它们的转录本在蛹后期就已经存在。这两种蛋白最初在附腺的两种形态不同的分泌细胞类型，即主细胞和副细胞中被检测到。在老年未交配雄性的腺体中，它们只在副细胞的大囊泡和腺腔内被检测到。交配导致这两种蛋白的mRNA增加，并且至少在主细胞中蛋白质重新开始翻译。这两种蛋白在交配过程中都转移到雌性生殖道，并迅速进入雌性血淋巴。msP 355a在雌性生殖道内会迅速发生特异性切割，但在血淋巴中不会；msP 355b在雌性生殖道或血淋巴中都不会被切割。
