ArticleGenetics2015
Retention of Ejaculate by Drosophila melanogaster Females Requires the Male-Derived Mating Plug Protein PEBme.
Article in Genetics, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers.
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Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 71 citations in OpenAlex.
- Female genetic variation controlling timing of mating plug ejection inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Odorant-binding proteins and chemosensory proteins in insects: structural insights, functional plasticity, and prospects for targeted pest management.Molecular biology reports · 2026Review
- Brain-gonad axes harmonize male mating drive and reproductive strategy via steroid hormones.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Seminal Fluid Protein Acp29AB Shifts Egg-Laying Timing inEcology and evolution · 2025Article
- Diagnosing confounded Bateman gradients.Evolution; international journal of organic evolution · 2025Article
- Article
- Elucidation of ejaculatory bulb proteins in Bemisia tabaci Asia-1 and Asia II-1 and confirmation of their mating transfer via RNAi.Molecular biology reports · 2024Article
- Finishing the egg.Genetics · 2024Article
- The seminal odorant binding protein Obp56g is required for mating plug formation and male fertility ineLife · 2023Article
- SPSL1 is essential for spermatophore formation and sperm activation in Spodoptera frugiperda.PLoS genetics · 2023Article
- Evolutionary Quantitative Proteomics of Reproductive Protein Divergence in Drosophila.Molecular & cellular proteomics : MCP · 2023Article
- Female factors modulate Sex Peptide's association with sperm in Drosophila melanogaster.BMC biology · 2022Article
- On how to identify a seminal fluid protein: A commentary on Hurtado et al.Insect molecular biology · 2022Article
- Octopaminergic/tyraminergic Tdc2 neurons regulate biased sperm usage in female Drosophila melanogaster.Genetics · 2022Article
- Article
- Single-nucleus transcriptomes reveal evolutionary and functional properties of cell types in the Drosophila accessory gland.Genetics · 2022Article
- ThePhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2020Review
- Seminal fluid and accessory male investment in sperm competition.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2020Review
- A neural circuit encoding mating states tunes defensive behavior in Drosophila.Nature communications · 2020Article
- Evolution of Reproductive Behavior.Genetics · 2020Review
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Within the mated reproductive tracts of females of many taxa, seminal fluid proteins (SFPs) coagulate into a structure known as the mating plug (MP). MPs have diverse roles, including preventing female remating, altering female receptivity postmating, and being necessary for mated females to successfully store sperm. The Drosophila melanogaster MP, which is maintained in the mated female for several hours postmating, is comprised of a posterior MP (PMP) that forms quickly after mating begins and an anterior MP (AMP) that forms later. The PMP is composed of seminal proteins from the ejaculatory bulb (EB) of the male reproductive tract. To examine the role of the PMP protein PEBme in D. melanogaster reproduction, we identified an EB GAL4 driver and used it to target PEBme for RNA interference (RNAi) knockdown. PEBme knockdown in males compromised PMP coagulation in their mates and resulted in a significant reduction in female fertility, adversely affecting postmating uterine conformation, sperm storage, mating refractoriness, egg laying, and progeny generation. These defects resulted from the inability of females to retain the ejaculate in their reproductive tracts after mating. The uncoagulated MP impaired uncoupling by the knockdown male, and when he ultimately uncoupled, the ejaculate was often pulled out of the female. Thus, PEBme and MP coagulation are required for optimal fertility in D. melanogaster. Given the importance of the PMP for fertility, we identified additional MP proteins by mass spectrometry and found fertility functions for two of them. Our results highlight the importance of the MP and the proteins that comprise it in reproduction and suggest that in Drosophila the PMP is required to retain the ejaculate within the female reproductive tract, ensuring the storage of sperm by mated females.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.