Data from: Gene expression changes in male accessory glands during ageing are accompanied by reproductive decline in Drosophila melanogaster

Senescence is accompanied by loss of reproductive functions. Here we studied reproductive ageing in Drosophila melanogaster males and asked whether the expected decline in male reproductive success is due to diminished functionality of the male accessory gland. The male accessory gland produces the majority of seminal fluid proteins (SFPs) transferred to the female at mating. SFPs induce female post-mating changes and are key to male reproductive success. We measured age-dependent gene expression changes for five representative SFP genes in males from four different age groups ranging from one to six weeks after eclosion. Simultaneously, we also measured male reproductive success in post-mating traits mediated by transfer of these five SFPs. We found a decrease in male SFP gene expression with advancing age and an accompanying decline in male post-mating success. Hence, male reproductive senescence is associated with a decline in functionality of the male accessory gland. While overall individual SFP genes decrease in expression our results point towards the idea that the composition of an ejaculate might change with male age as the rate of change was variable for those five genes.

衰老进程伴随生殖功能的丧失。本研究以雄性黑腹果蝇（Drosophila melanogaster）为对象开展生殖衰老相关研究，旨在探究雄性生殖成功率的预期下降是否源于雄性附腺（male accessory gland）功能减退。雄性附腺是交配时向雌性转移的大部分精浆蛋白（seminal fluid proteins, SFPs）的主要合成来源。SFPs可诱导雌性产生交配后生理变化，是决定雄性生殖成功率的关键因子。我们选取5个代表性SFP基因，对羽化后1至6周共4个年龄组的雄性个体进行了年龄依赖性基因表达水平检测。同时，我们还针对由这5种SFPs介导的各类交配后性状，测定了雄性生殖成功率。研究结果显示，随着年龄增长，雄性SFP基因的表达水平逐渐降低，同时雄性交配后成功率也随之下降。由此可见，雄性生殖衰老与雄性附腺功能减退密切相关。尽管单个SFP基因的整体表达水平均呈下降趋势，但由于上述5个基因的表达变化速率存在差异，我们的研究结果提示，精液的组成可能会随雄性年龄发生改变。