Editor's Summary
3 January 2008
Life after sex
Most insect females undergo a profound switch in reproductive behaviour once they mate: they become unreceptive to courting males and start laying eggs. Mosquito females, in particular, start seeking a blood meal after sex. This transformation is triggered by factors present in the male seminal fluid, and in 1988 the active factor in Drosophila was found to be a small peptide, dubbed the 'sex peptide'. Now the long-sought receptor protein for this peptide has been identified. The sex peptide receptor — which turns out to be the orphan receptor CG16752 — functions in a subset of neurons implicated in other sex-related behaviours. The receptor is highly conserved across insect species, raising the possibility that it could be targeted to disrupt reproduction in insect pests or host-seeking behaviour in disease vectors.
News and Views: Neuroscience: Love hangover
In many species, males have developed strategies to safeguard their genetic material from dilution by that of competing males. Fruitflies achieve this by altering the behaviour of their partners.
Leslie C. Griffith
doi:10.1038/451024a
Article: A receptor that mediates the post-mating switch in Drosophila reproductive behaviour
Nilay Yapici, Young-Joon Kim, Carlos Ribeiro & Barry J. Dickson
doi:10.1038/nature06483
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (465K) | Supplementary information