INBIOTECA, Universidad Veracruzana, Av. de las Culturas Veracruzanas 101, Col. E. Zapata, Xalapa, CP 91090 Veracruz, México.
Bayer CropScience, R&D Seeds and Traits, Chesterfield, MO, USA.
Proc Biol Sci. 2022 Jun 29;289(1977):20212806. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2021.2806.
Seminal fluid proteins (Sfps) modify female phenotypes and have wide-ranging evolutionary implications on fitness in many insects. However, in the Mexican fruit fly, , a highly destructive agricultural pest, the functions of Sfps are still largely unknown. To gain insights into female phenotypes regulated by Sfps, we used nano-liquid chromatography mass spectrometry to conduct a proteomic analysis of the soluble proteins from reproductive organs of . The proteins predicted to be transferred from males to females during copulation were 100 proteins from the accessory glands, 69 from the testes and 20 from the ejaculatory bulb, resulting in 141 unique proteins after accounting for redundancies from multiple tissues. These 141 included orthologues to proteins involved mainly in oogenesis, spermatogenesis, immune response, lifespan and fecundity. In particular, we found one protein associated with female olfactory response to repellent stimuli (Scribble), and two related to memory formation (aPKC and Shibire). Together, these results raise the possibility that Sfps could play a role in regulating female olfactory responses and memory formation and could be indicative of novel evolutionary functions in this important agricultural pest.
精液蛋白（Sfps）可改变雌性表型，并对许多昆虫的适应度具有广泛的进化意义。然而，在墨西哥果蝇中，一种极具破坏性的农业害虫，Sfps 的功能仍知之甚少。为了深入了解 Sfps 调节的雌性表型，我们使用纳升液相色谱-质谱联用技术对 生殖器官中的可溶性蛋白进行了蛋白质组分析。在交配过程中预测从雄性转移到雌性的蛋白质包括来自附腺的 100 种蛋白质、来自睾丸的 69 种蛋白质和来自射精囊的 20 种蛋白质，经多个组织冗余计算后得到 141 种独特蛋白质。这 141 种蛋白质包括与卵母细胞发生、精子发生、免疫反应、寿命和繁殖力有关的主要蛋白的同源物。特别是，我们发现了一种与雌性对驱避性刺激的嗅觉反应有关的蛋白（Scribble），以及两种与记忆形成有关的蛋白（aPKC 和 Shibire）。总之，这些结果表明 Sfps 可能在调节雌性嗅觉反应和记忆形成中发挥作用，并可能表明这种重要农业害虫中存在新的进化功能。
