ArticlePLoS genetics2013
Genetic disruption of the copulatory plug in mice leads to severely reduced fertility.
Article in PLoS genetics, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 49 papers.
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Who cites it
49 citing papers in PubMed, 83 citations in OpenAlex.
- Physiological functions of seminal vesicle secretions in male fertility.Histology and histopathology · 2026Review
- Testing for Functional Adaptation in a Genital Bone: Baculum Size, Shape, and Microstructure Show Little Plastic Response to Mating Across Five Rodent Species.Integrative organismal biology (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- Mechanisms of seminal plasma synthesis and actions on sperm function for advancing reproductive technologies.The Journal of reproduction and development · 2026Review
- Strategies, costs and counter-strategies to sexual coercion.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2025Review
- Mating system variation and gene expression in the male reproductive tract of Peromyscus mice.Molecular ecology · 2025Article
- Genetic disruption of the baculum compromises the ability of male mice to copulate.PLoS genetics · 2025Article
- Importance and variability of the paternal component in sow reproductive traits.Journal of applied genetics · 2024Review
- Aberrant CD8Frontiers in immunology · 2024Article
- Differential Proteomic Analysis of Human Sperm: A Systematic Review to Identify Candidate Targets to Monitor Sperm Quality.The world journal of men's health · 2024Article
- Pathologic copulatory lock in a genetically engineered laboratory mouse breeding pair.Laboratory animals · 2023Article
- Serotonin neurons in mating female mice are activated by male ejaculation.Current biology : CB · 2023Article
- The testis-, epididymis-, or seminal vesicle-enriched genes Aldoart2, Serpina16, Aoc1l3, and Pate14 are not essential for male fertility in mice.Experimental animals · 2023Article
- Mating in the cold. Prolonged sperm storage provides opportunities for forced copulation by male bats during winter.Frontiers in physiology · 2023Article
- Biochemical Characterisation of Human Transglutaminase 4.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Article
- The baculum affects paternity success of first but not second males in house mouse sperm competition.BMC ecology and evolution · 2021Article
- Male-derived copulatory plugs enhance implantation success in female Mus musculus.Biology of reproduction · 2021Article
- The Role of AIRE Deficiency in Infertility and Its Potential Pathogenesis.Frontiers in immunology · 2021Review
- Social status and ejaculate composition in the house mouse.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2020Article
- Seminal fluid and accessory male investment in sperm competition.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2020Review
- Revealing mechanisms of mating plug function under sexual selection.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Seminal fluid proteins affect fertility at multiple stages in reproduction. In many species, a male's ejaculate coagulates to form a copulatory plug. Although taxonomically widespread, the molecular details of plug formation remain poorly understood, limiting our ability to manipulate the structure and understand its role in reproduction. Here I show that male mice knockouts for transglutaminase IV (Tgm4) fail to form a copulatory plug, demonstrating that this gene is necessary for plug formation and lending a powerful new genetic tool to begin characterizing plug function. Tgm4 knockout males show normal sperm count, sperm motility, and reproductive morphology. However, very little of their ejaculate migrates into the female's reproductive tract, suggesting the plug prevents ejaculate leakage. Poor ejaculate migration leads to a reduction in the proportion of oocytes fertilized. However, Tgm4 knockout males fertilized between 3-11 oocytes, which should be adequate for a normal litter. Nevertheless, females mated to Tgm4 knockout males for approximately 14 days were significantly less likely to give birth to a litter compared to females mated to wild-type males. Therefore, it appears that the plug also affects post-fertilization events such as implantation and/or gestation. This study shows that a gene influencing the viscosity of seminal fluid has a major influence on male fertility.
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Registered trials
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