Transcriptomic responses of females to consumption of nuptial food gifts as a potential mediator of sexual conflict in decorated crickets
Transcriptomic responses of females to consumption of nuptial food gifts as a potential mediator of sexual conflict in decorated crickets
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DOI：
10.1111/jeb.14114
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发表时间：
2022-11
影响因子：
2.1
通讯作者：
Bert Foquet;J. Rapkin;M. Sharma;B. Sadd;S. Sakaluk;John Hunt
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Bert Foquet;J. Rapkin;M. Sharma;B. Sadd;S. Sakaluk;John Hunt
雄性在交配时向雌性提供结婚食物礼物是许多昆虫的一种策略，被认为是由性冲突或性选择决定的，因为它使雄性能够了解雌性的生理机能。虽然男性经常试图利用这些天赋来影响女性的行为，以达到自己的利益，但女性却可以进化出反击机制。在装饰蟋蟀中，雄性的结婚礼物包括精囊的一部分，即精子门，以它为食，可以阻止雌性过早终止精子转移。然而，精子门和含精子壶腹附件中摄入的化合物可能会进一步影响女性的生理和行为。我们研究了交配本身以及这两种不同的潜在雄性介导的操纵途径如何影响雌性转录组反应。我们对女性的肠道和头部组织进行了 RNA 测序实验，对这些女性来说，结婚礼物的消费和射精的接受是独立操纵的。在肠道组织中，我们发现在交配过程中不允许进食的雌性表现出整体基因表达下降，这可能是由于肠道功能下降引起的，但这可以通过以精藻或虚假礼物为食来抵消。在头部组织中，我们只发现少量差异表达基因，但基因共表达网络分析表明，壶腹附着和精藻消耗独立诱导不同的基因表达模式。这项研究提供了证据，表明精藻喂养改变了装饰蟋蟀的雌性交配后转录组反应，强调了它在该系统中调解性冲突的潜力。
Nuptial food gift provisioning by males to females at mating is a strategy in many insects that is thought to be shaped by sexual conflict or sexual selection, as it affords males access to a female's physiology. While males often attempt to use these gifts to influence female behaviour to their own advantage, females can evolve counter mechanisms. In decorated crickets, the male's nuptial gift comprises part of the spermatophore, the spermatophylax, the feeding on which deters the female from prematurely terminating sperm transfer. However, ingested compounds in the spermatophylax and attachment of the sperm‐containing ampulla could further influence female physiology and behaviour. We investigated how mating per se and these two distinct routes of potential male‐mediated manipulation influence the female transcriptomic response. We conducted an RNA sequencing experiment on gut and head tissues from females for whom nuptial food gift consumption and receipt of an ejaculation were independently manipulated. In the gut tissue, we found that females not permitted to feed during mating exhibited decreased overall gene expression, possibly caused by a reduced gut function, but this was countered by feeding on the spermatophylax or a sham gift. In the head tissue, we found only low numbers of differentially expressed genes, but a gene co‐expression network analysis revealed that ampulla attachment and spermatophylax consumption independently induce distinct gene expression patterns. This study provides evidence that spermatophylax feeding alters the female post‐mating transcriptomic response in decorated crickets, highlighting its potential to mediate sexual conflict in this system.