Understanding Male Gamete Competition Using Unique Molecular Tags

使用独特的分子标签了解雄配子竞争

• 批准号: 0814732
• 负责人: Scott Pitnick
• 金额: $ 54万
• 依托单位: Syracuse University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-08-01 至 2011-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0814732&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Understanding; Male; Gamete; Competition; Using

Because of the small size of sperm and the technical challenges of observing events taking place inside the complex reproductive tract of females, there are numerous, fundamental aspects of reproduction that remain poorly understood in internally fertilizing species, including humans. This project is a detailed investigation of genetic, physiological and behavioral aspects of events taking place between insemination and fertilization in a model system: the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and closely related species. For the first time, these events will be directly observed in real time using unique transgenic fly strains producing sperm with heads that express green (GFP) or red fluorescent protein (RFP). Experiments will explore mechanisms of sperm migration, sperm storage, egg fertilization, the mechanisms by which sperm from different males compete to fertilize the eggs of twice-mated females, and mechanisms of ejaculate-female incompatibility contributing to reproductive failure in hybrid matings between closely related species.The proposed research has the potential to generate watershed advances in the fields of reproductive physiology and genetics, sexual selection and speciation. Resulting progress in our understanding of sperm behavior within females and the identification of candidate genes contributing to sperm-female incompatibility are further likely to lead to advances in our understanding and treatment of human infertility.

由于精子体积小，以及观察雌性复杂生殖道内发生的事件的技术挑战，在包括人类在内的体内受精物种中，生殖的许多基本方面仍然知之甚少。这个项目是在一个模型系统中详细研究在人工授精和受精之间发生的事件的遗传、生理和行为方面：果蝇黑腹果蝇及其近缘物种。首次使用产生头部表达绿色(GFP)或红色荧光蛋白(RFP)的精子的独特转基因苍蝇品系直接实时观察到这些事件。实验将探索精子迁移、精子储存、卵子受精的机制，不同男性的精子竞争使两次交配的雌性受精的机制，以及射精-雌性不相容导致近缘物种之间杂交繁殖失败的机制。拟议的研究有可能在生殖生理和遗传学、性别选择和物种形成领域产生分水岭进展。因此，我们对女性精子行为的了解以及对导致精子与女性不相容的候选基因的识别取得的进展，可能会进一步促进我们对人类不育症的理解和治疗。