Stored sperm differs from ejaculated sperm by proteome alterations associated with energy metabolism in the honeybee Apis mellifera
Stored sperm differs from ejaculated sperm by proteome alterations associated with energy metabolism in the honeybee Apis mellifera
复制标题
储存的精子与射精的精子的不同之处在于与蜜蜂能量代谢相关的蛋白质组改变
作者：
Veronica F. Poland;Holger Eubel;M. King;Cory Solheim;A. Harvey Millar;B. Baer
精子在其生活史上暴露在非常不同的环境中，如精液或女性性道，但目前关于精子成分和功能是否以及在多大程度上在这些不同环境中发生变化的信息非常少。在这里，我们使用了意大利蜜蜂，并量化了从精液或雌性精子储存器官中采集的精子蛋白丰度和活性的差异。我们发现，保存的精子和射出的精子含有相同的一组蛋白质，但特定蛋白质的丰度在射出的精子和保存的精子中有很大的不同。大多数丰度发生显著变化的蛋白质都与精子能量代谢有关。对这些蛋白质的一部分进行的酶分析表明，保存的精子和射出的精子的特定蛋白质活性不同，与保存的精子相比，射出的精子的特定蛋白质活性通常更高。我们提供的证据表明，精子的细胞机制是可塑性的，在射精和雌性储存器官中的精子是不同的。未来的工作将需要测试这些变化是否是主动适应或精子衰老的结果，以及它们是否会改变精子在不同化学环境中的表现，或者对雌性精子存储成本的影响。然而，这些变化预计会影响精子性能，从而决定精子存活率或用于储存或卵子受精的精子竞争力。
Sperm are exposed to substantially different environments during their life history, such as seminal fluid or the female sexual tract, but remarkably little information is currently available about whether and how much sperm composition and function alters in these different environments. Here, we used the honeybee Apis mellifera and quantified differences in the abundance and activity of sperm proteins sampled either from ejaculates or from the female’s sperm storage organ. We find that stored and ejaculated sperm contain the same set of proteins but that the abundance of specific proteins differed substantially between ejaculated and stored sperm. Most proteins with a significant change in abundance are related to sperm energy metabolism. Enzymatic assays performed for a subset of these proteins indicate that specific protein activities differ between stored and ejaculated sperm and are typically higher in ejaculated compared to stored sperm. We provide evidence that the cellular machinery of sperm is plastic and differs between sperm within the ejaculate and within the female’s storage organ. Future work will be required to test whether these changes are a consequence of active adaptation or sperm senescence and whether they alter sperm performance in different chemical environments or impact on the cost of sperm storage by the female. However, these changes can be expected to influence sperm performance and therefore determine sperm viability or sperm competitiveness for storage or egg fertilization.