Influence of the male ejaculate on post-mating prezygotic barriers in field crickets.

摘要: Post-copulatory interactions between males and females involve highly coordinated, complex traits that are often rapidly evolving divergent species. Failure to produce deposit eggs may be a common post-mating prezygotic barrier, yet little is known about what prevents the induction of egg-laying The field crickets, Gryllus firmus G. pennsylvanicus isolated by one-way reproductive incompatibility; fail fertilize or induce normal in females. We use experimental crosses elucidate role accessory gland-derived vs. testis-derived components male ejaculate on conspecific heterospecific crosses. Using surgical castrations create ‘spermless’ transfer only seminal fluid proteins (SFPs) we test whether SFPs can rescue find small short-term response alone cannot explain egg-laying. also do not cross. Testis-derived components, such as sperm prostaglandins, most likely stimulate act transporters for targets female tract. These results highlight utility approaches investigating phenotypes barriers species suggest future work molecular basis incompatibility should focus compounds addition SFPs.