Male accessory gland molecules inhibit harmonic convergence in the mosquito Aedes aegypti

League, Garrett P.; Baxter, Lindsay L.; Wolfner, Mariana F.; Harrington, Laura C.

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2019.02.005

Cited by 25 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…As the male approaches the female, both sexes engage in a dynamic acoustic interaction where both individuals modulate their wing beat frequency, so it overlaps at a harmonic overtone (40)(41)(42)(43). This phenomenon, harmonic convergence, has been suggested as a mechanism used by females to assess and select among potential mates (30,41), but see (44,45).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex, Age, and Parental Harmonic Convergence Behavior Affect the Immune Performance ofAedes aegyptiOffspring

Reitmayer

Pathak

Harrington

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Aedes aegypti is an important vector of several pathogenic arboviruses including dengue, chikungunya and Zika. Innovative approaches to control Aedes populations, involving synthetic transgenic modifications as well as Wolbachia bacteria, appear promising. For the various techniques requiring offspring inheritance of a trait, released males must successfully compete for mating partners against wildtype males. However, very little is known about mechanisms of mate selection in mosquitoes in general and in particular about potential correlations between mating success and offspring immune performance.Harmonic convergence signals have been proposed as a cue for females to predict male quality. We investigated whether offspring of converging parental pairs showed differences in immune competence compared to offspring derived from non-converging parental pairs using three different types of immune assays. We found that offspring immune responses (melanization response and response to a bacterial challenge) differed between offspring from converging and non-converging parents. However, immune responses were shaped by several interacting factors such as sex, age, reproductive status, and parental mating behavior. Parental mating behavior had a stronger effect on the immune response of male offspring than on female offspring. Further, a population of female offspring derived from converging parental pairs reached their peak dengue virus dissemination rate earlier compared to a population of offspring derived from non-converging parental pairs. Our results provide insight into a wide range of selective pressures shaping mosquito immune function. Evolutionary trade-offs between naturally and sexually selected traits can have important implications for disease transmission and control and should be considered in the development of reproductive control strategies.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex, Age, and Parental Harmonic Convergence Behavior Affect the Immune Performance ofAedes aegyptiOffspring

Reitmayer

Pathak

Harrington

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…Due to their central role in insect reproduction and evolution, AGs and the individual seminal fluid proteins that they produce to mediate the PMR are topics of intense interest. Insights obtained from the Drosophila model have proven relevant for other problematic species ( 21 , 23 – 25 ), and thus, identification of novel AG products offer important avenues for the benefit of human health and agriculture.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of a micropeptide and multiple secondary cell genes that modulate Drosophila male reproductive success

Immarigeon

Frei

Delbare

et al. 2021

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Even in well-characterized genomes, many transcripts are considered noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) simply due to the absence of large open reading frames (ORFs). However, it is now becoming clear that many small ORFs (smORFs) produce peptides with important biological functions. In the process of characterizing the ribosome-bound transcriptome of an important cell type of the seminal fluid-producing accessory gland of Drosophila melanogaster, we detected an RNA, previously thought to be noncoding, called male-specific abdominal (msa). Notably, msa is nested in the HOX gene cluster of the Bithorax complex and is known to contain a micro-RNA within one of its introns. We find that this RNA encodes a “micropeptide” (9 or 20 amino acids, MSAmiP) that is expressed exclusively in the secondary cells of the male accessory gland, where it seems to accumulate in nuclei. Importantly, loss of function of this micropeptide causes defects in sperm competition. In addition to bringing insights into the biology of a rare cell type, this work underlines the importance of small peptides, a class of molecules that is now emerging as important actors in complex biological processes.

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“…While seminal proteins induce female post-mating changes in insects 15 , including Ae. aegypti 17 , 48 , 49 , the molecular role of spermathecal gene products in fertility are not well-understood. Spermathecal proteins are essential for optimal fertility in D. melanogaster 27 , 33 – 35 and An.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mating and blood-feeding induce transcriptome changes in the spermathecae of the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti

Camargo

Ahmed-Braimah

Amaro

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are the primary vectors of numerous viruses that impact human health. As manipulation of reproduction has been proposed to suppress mosquito populations, elucidation of biological processes that enable males and females to successfully reproduce is necessary. One essential process is female sperm storage in specialized structures called spermathecae. Aedes aegypti females typically mate once, requiring them to maintain sperm viably to fertilize eggs they lay over their lifetime. Spermathecal gene products are required for Drosophila sperm storage and sperm viability, and a spermathecal-derived heme peroxidase is required for long-term Anopheles gambiae fertility. Products of the Ae. aegypti spermathecae, and their response to mating, are largely unknown. Further, although female blood-feeding is essential for anautogenous mosquito reproduction, the transcriptional response to blood-ingestion remains undefined in any reproductive tissue. We conducted an RNAseq analysis of spermathecae from unfed virgins, mated only, and mated and blood-fed females at 6, 24, and 72 h post-mating and identified significant differentially expressed genes in each group at each timepoint. A blood-meal following mating induced a greater transcriptional response in the spermathecae than mating alone. This study provides the first view of elicited mRNA changes in the spermathecae by a blood-meal in mated females.

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Male accessory gland molecules inhibit harmonic convergence in the mosquito Aedes aegypti

Cited by 25 publications

References 10 publications

Sex, Age, and Parental Harmonic Convergence Behavior Affect the Immune Performance ofAedes aegyptiOffspring

Sex, Age, and Parental Harmonic Convergence Behavior Affect the Immune Performance ofAedes aegyptiOffspring

Identification of a micropeptide and multiple secondary cell genes that modulate Drosophila male reproductive success

Mating and blood-feeding induce transcriptome changes in the spermathecae of the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti

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