Insights into female sperm storage from the spermathecal fluid proteome of the honeybee Apis mellifera

authored by: Boris Baer, Holger Eubel, Nicolas L. Taylor, Nicholas O'Toole, A. Harvey Millar
Abstract: Background: Female animals are often able to store sperm inside their body - in some species even for several decades. The molecular basis of how females keep non-own cells alive is largely unknown, but since sperm cells are reported to be transcriptionally silenced and, therefore, limited in their ability to maintain their own function, it is likely that females actively participate in sperm maintenance. Because female contributions are likely to be of central importance for sperm survival, molecular insights into the process offer opportunities to observe mechanisms through which females manipulate sperm. Results: We used the honeybee, Apis mellifera, in which queens are highly polyandrous and able to maintain sperm viable for several years. We identified over a hundred proteins representing the major constituents of the spermathecal fluid, which females contribute to sperm in storage. We found that the gel profile of proteins from spermathecal fluid is very similar to the secretions of the spermathecal gland and concluded that the spermathecal glands are the main contributors to the spermathecal fluid proteome. A detailed analysis of the spermathecal fluid proteins indicate that they fall into a range of different functional groups, most notably enzymes of energy metabolism and antioxidant defense. A metabolic network analysis comparing the proteins detected in seminal fluid and spermathecal fluid showed a more integrated network is present in the spermathecal fluid that could facilitate long-term storage of sperm. Conclusions: We present a large-scale identification of proteins in the spermathecal fluid of honeybee queens and provide insights into the molecular regulation of female sperm storage.
External Organisation(s): University of Western Australia
Type: Article
Journal: Genome biology
Volume: 10
ISSN: 1474-7596
Publication date: 18.06.2009
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Genetics, Cell Biology
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1186/gb-2009-10-6-r67 (Access: Unknown)

BibTeX

@article{67f77986788d4abba80f6d614b8b3d67,
title = "Insights into female sperm storage from the spermathecal fluid proteome of the honeybee Apis mellifera",
abstract = "Background: Female animals are often able to store sperm inside their body - in some species even for several decades. The molecular basis of how females keep non-own cells alive is largely unknown, but since sperm cells are reported to be transcriptionally silenced and, therefore, limited in their ability to maintain their own function, it is likely that females actively participate in sperm maintenance. Because female contributions are likely to be of central importance for sperm survival, molecular insights into the process offer opportunities to observe mechanisms through which females manipulate sperm. Results: We used the honeybee, Apis mellifera, in which queens are highly polyandrous and able to maintain sperm viable for several years. We identified over a hundred proteins representing the major constituents of the spermathecal fluid, which females contribute to sperm in storage. We found that the gel profile of proteins from spermathecal fluid is very similar to the secretions of the spermathecal gland and concluded that the spermathecal glands are the main contributors to the spermathecal fluid proteome. A detailed analysis of the spermathecal fluid proteins indicate that they fall into a range of different functional groups, most notably enzymes of energy metabolism and antioxidant defense. A metabolic network analysis comparing the proteins detected in seminal fluid and spermathecal fluid showed a more integrated network is present in the spermathecal fluid that could facilitate long-term storage of sperm. Conclusions: We present a large-scale identification of proteins in the spermathecal fluid of honeybee queens and provide insights into the molecular regulation of female sperm storage.",
author = "Boris Baer and Holger Eubel and Taylor, {Nicolas L.} and Nicholas O'Toole and Millar, {A. Harvey}",
note = "Funding information: We were supported by the Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Program (Queen Elizabeth II Fellowship to BB, Australian Post-doctoral Fellowships to HE and NLT, Australian Professorial Fellowship to AHM) and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology (CE0561495). We thank the honeybee keepers of Western Australia (Better Bees of Western Australia) and especially Ron Clark for providing the necessary honeybee material for this study.",
year = "2009",
month = jun,
day = "18",
doi = "10.1186/gb-2009-10-6-r67",
language = "English",
volume = "10",
journal = "Genome biology",
issn = "1474-7596",
publisher = "BioMed Central Ltd.",
number = "6",
}