Shotgun Proteomic Comparison of the Accessory Gland Protein Content of Drosophila species related to their post-mating behavior

摘要

Male accessory gland produce proteins (Acps) transmitted during mating to the female within the seminal fluid [1, 2]. These Acps play an important role in numerous reproductive processes and induce strong changes in female post-mating behaviour [2], as inhibition of re-mating, which increase male paternity insurance. The evolution of the Acps genes is thought to be rapid between species because of the strong selection on sexual interactions. It may also favour speciation by creating reproductive isolation [1]. In this project, we investigate the relation of Acps with mating system in the 9 species of the Drosophila melanogaster subgroup. The main challenge is to compare Acps from both sequenced, like the already well-studied model organism D. melanogaster [1, 2, 3] and non-sequenced species to better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying evolution of post-mating interactions between the sexes. As a trial for this study, D. santomea, D. teissieri and D. yakuba have been selected because of their difference in reproduction mating systems and their phylogenetic divergence in order to highlight the difficulty of cross-species comparisons.