Dynamic, mating-induced gene expression changes in female head and brain tissues of Drosophila melanogaster. Drosophila melanogaster

Temporal gene expression changes in head tissues from mated females was determined at four time points post-mating, from 0-2 hours out to 72 hours. Each time point assayed post-mating showed a unique post-mating gene expression response, with 48 hours post-mating having the largest number of genes with expression changes. At most time points, a marked change in expression of genes expressed in the head fat body and encode products that function in metabolism was observed. Additionally, gene expression was analyzed at 24 hours post-mating in brain tissues, identifying the repressed expression of several genes encoding ion channels. Overall design: All microarrays were dual channel with direct comparisons of mated females versus virgin females. For each experiment, four independent biological samples were analyzed using a dye-swap design. Samples consisted of adult heads or dissected CNS collected either at 0-2, 24, 48, or 72 hours post-mating.