Circadian Mechanism Controlling Rhythmic Release of Sperm from the Insect Testis.

害虫对常规杀虫剂的抗性日益增强，公众对环境污染的关注要求寻找有效和安全的害虫防治方法。未来的一个希望是通过探索和利用昆虫特有的生化和生理过程来设计新的选择性控制昆虫的方法。为了实现这一目标，Giebultowicz博士正在研究导致雄性飞蛾不育的生理过程。她发现并研究了舞毒蛾睾丸中精子释放的节律和生殖道中有节律的分泌活动。这些节律是睾丸后精子成熟所必需的，它们的中断导致雄性昆虫不育。精子释放的时间是由位于睾丸中的生物“时钟”控制的，这种有节奏的精子释放在体外培养的睾丸中持续存在。这一发现为鉴定和研究与精子成熟相关的节律的分子相关性提供了一个独特的机会。参与精子释放昼夜节律的蛋白质将通过电泳蛋白分离、抗血清的产生和随后对特定蛋白质在精子节律释放中的作用的研究来表征。蛋白质的分离和纯化将为解决昆虫生物钟控制精子节律释放的分子基础提供第一步。选定蛋白的部分测序和特定肽的合成可能导致分离和鉴定参与控制精子释放机制的基因。未来，她计划克隆这些基因，并尝试使用对其他生物体无害的害虫特异性杆状病毒将它们引入昆虫体内。这样一来，精子的释放就会中断，田间的害虫就会绝育。//

The increasing resistance of pest insects to convenional insecticides and public concern about environmental contamination mandate the search for effective and safe pest control methods. One hope for the future depends on designing new selective methods of insect control by exploration and exploitation of those biochemical and physiological processes which are unique to insects. In an effort toward this goal Dr. Giebultowicz is studying physiological processes which, when disrupted, cause sterility in male moths. She has discovered and investigated the rhythms of sperm release from the testis and rhythmic secretory activity in the reproductive tract of the gypsy moth. These rhythms are necessary for post- testicular sperm maturation and their disruption results in sterile insect males. Timing of sperm release is controlled by a biological "clock" located in the testis and that rhythmic sperm release persists in testis cultured in vitro. This finding provide a unique opportunity to identify and study molecular correlates of the rythms associated with sperm maturation. Proteins involved in the circadian rhythm of sperm release will be characterize by electrophoretic protein separation, generation of antisera and subsequent investigation of the role of specific proteins in the rhythmic sperm release. Separation and purification of proteins would provide a first step toward resolving molecular basis for biological clock controlling rhythmic release of sperm in insects. Partial sequencing of selected proteins and synthesis of specific peptides might lead to the isolation and identification of genes involved in the mechanism controlling sperm release. In future, she plans to clone such genes and to attempt introducing them into insects using pest-specific baculoviruses which are harmless to other living organisms. In this way sperm release could be disrupted and pest moths in the field would become sterile.//