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，传统上被视为对性传播疾病的防御。然而，在某些系统中，女性的反应会杀死精子。在精子竞争激烈的系统中（即在任何给定时间都有多个射精驻留在雌性生殖道中的系统），雄性可能会干扰雌性的免疫反应，以增加它们的精子活力，从而增加它们与竞争对手相比成功受精的机会。为了解决这种可能性，将操纵编码雌性免疫蛋白和雄性射精蛋白的基因，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，将解决三个目标，包括（1）如果雌性免疫反应授精的基础上，精子活力的减少，在无脊椎动物中常见的，（2）如果男性受精成功的女性免疫反应的限制，和（3）男性射精对女性免疫的后果。实验设计采取了全面的方法，检查与各种生理系统相关的许多基因。考虑到生殖和免疫都是高度保守的生物系统，这种相互作用在广泛的有性生殖系统中似乎有很大的潜力。因此，免疫系统可能在交配系统的进化中发挥关键作用，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。具体而言，该项目为对进化生物学，生态免疫和学习分子技术感兴趣的本科生和研究生提供独立研究机会。

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.