Understanding Male Gamete Competition Using Unique Molecular Tags

使用独特的分子标签了解雄配子竞争

基本信息

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

项目摘要

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.

由于精子的规模很小以及观察事件发生在女性复杂的生殖道内发生的事件的技术挑战，因此在包括人类在内的内部施肥物种（包括人类）中，繁殖的基本方面众多，在内部受精的物种中仍然差了解。该项目是对模型系统中授精和受精之间发生的事件的遗传，生理和行为方面的详细研究：果蝇果蝇Melanogaster和密切相关的物种。首次使用独特的转基因蝇菌株直接观察到这些事件，这些蝇菌会产生具有表达绿色（GFP）或红色荧光蛋白（RFP）的头部的精子。实验将探索精子迁移，精子储存，卵受精的机制，来自不同男性的精子竞争的精子以施肥两次交配的女性的卵，以及射精女性的机制以及射精不兼容的机制，有助于造成杂种失败的繁殖失败物种。拟议的研究有可能在生殖生理和遗传学，性选择和物种形成领域产生分水岭的进步。导致我们对女性内部精子行为的理解以及鉴定出促成精子不兼容的候选基因的鉴定，进一步可能会导致我们对人类不育的理解和治疗的进步。