Sex-Specific Fitness Consequences of the Female Immune Response to Insemination in Drosophila Melanogaster

在许多系统中，女性对男性的射精表现出强烈的局部免疫反应，传统上认为这是对性传播疾病的防御。然而，女性的反应在某些系统中会杀死精子。在精子竞争激烈的系统中（即，在任何给定时间，多个射精存在于女性生殖道的系统），男性可能会干扰女性的免疫反应，以提高精子的生存能力，从而增加他们比竞争对手成功受精的机会。为了解决这种可能性，将操纵编码女性免疫蛋白和男性射精蛋白的基因，以阐明它们对交配行为、精子活力和精子竞争的潜在影响。具体而言，将讨论三个目标，包括(1)雌性对人工授精的免疫反应是否导致了无脊椎动物中常见的精子活力降低，(2)雄性受精成功是否受到雌性免疫反应的限制，以及(3)雄性射精对雌性免疫的影响。实验设计采用综合方法，检查与各种生理系统相关的众多基因。考虑到生殖和免疫都是高度保守的生物系统，这种相互作用似乎很有可能在广泛的性生殖系统中发挥作用。因此，免疫系统可能在交配系统的进化中起着关键作用，反之亦然。拟议的研究为促进科学培训和教育提供了一个理想的机会。具体来说，该项目为对进化生物学、生态免疫学和学习分子技术感兴趣的本科生和研究生提供独立研究的机会。

In many systems, females exhibit a strong, localized immune response to the male's ejaculate that has traditionally been viewed as a defense against sexually transmitted disease. However, the female response has been noted to kill sperm in some systems. In systems with intense sperm competition (i.e. systems where multiple ejaculates reside in the female's reproductive tract at any given time), males may interfere with the female's immune response in order to increase their sperm viability, thereby increasing their chance of fertilization success over rival males. To address this possibility, genes that code for female immune proteins and male ejaculate proteins will be manipulated in order to elucidate their potential effect on mating behavior, sperm viability and sperm competition. Specifically, three objectives will be addressed including (1) if the female immune response to insemination underlies the reduction in sperm viability commonly found among invertebrates, (2) if male fertilization success is constrained by the female immune response, and (3) the consequences of the male ejaculate on female immunity. The experimental design takes a comprehensive approach, examining numerous genes associated with a variety of physiological systems. Considering that reproduction and immunity are both highly conserved biological systems, there appears to be great potential for such an interaction to operate in a wide array of sexually reproducing systems. Thus, the immune system may play a key role in the evolution of mating systems and visa versa. The proposed research provides an ideal opportunity to promote scientific training and education. Specifically, the project provides independent research opportunities to undergraduate and graduate students interested in evolutionary biology, ecological immunity and learning molecular techniques.