QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

First published online 12 December 2007
doi: 10.1242/dev.015156

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplementary Material All Versions of this Article: dev.015156v1 135/2/311    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Allen, A. K. Articles by Spradling, A. C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Allen, A. K. Articles by Spradling, A. C. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

The Sf1-related nuclear hormone receptor Hr39 regulates Drosophila female reproductive tract development and function

Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Embryology, Carnegie Institution, 3520 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: spradling{at}ciwemb.edu)

Accepted 24 October 2007

The vertebrate nuclear hormone receptor steroidogenic factor 1 (SF1; NR5A1) controls reproductive development and regulates the transcription of steroid-modifying cytochrome P450 genes. We find that the SF1-related Drosophila nuclear hormone receptor HR39 is also essential for sexual development. In Hr39 mutant females, the sperm-storing spermathecae and glandular parovaria are absent or defective, causing sterility. Our results indicate that spermathecae and parovaria secrete reproductive tract proteins required for sperm maturation and function, like the mammalian epididymis and female reproductive tract. Hr39 controls the expression of specific cytochrome P450 genes and is required in females both to activate spermathecal secretion and repress male-specific courtship genes such as takeout. Thus, a pathway that, in vertebrates, controls sex-specific steroid hormone production, also mediates reproductive functions in an invertebrate. Our findings suggest that Drosophila can be used to model more aspects of mammalian reproductive biology than previously believed.

Key words: Hr39, Spermathecae, Reproductive tract, SF1 (NR5A1), Steroid hormone

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. T. Cox and A. C. Spradling clueless, a conserved Drosophila gene required for mitochondrial subcellular localization, interacts genetically with parkin Dis. Model. Mech., September 1, 2009; 2(9-10): 490 - 499. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. F. Wolfner Battle and Ballet: Molecular Interactions between the Sexes in Drosophila J. Hered., July 1, 2009; 100(4): 399 - 410. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. W. Rogers, M. M. A. Whitten, J. Thailayil, J. Soichot, E. A. Levashina, and F. Catteruccia Molecular and cellular components of the mating machinery in Anopheles gambiae females PNAS, December 9, 2008; 105(49): 19390 - 19395. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Wong, S. N. Albright, J. D. Giebel, K. R. Ram, S. Ji, A. C. Fiumera, and M. F. Wolfner A Role for Acp29AB, a Predicted Seminal Fluid Lectin, in Female Sperm Storage in Drosophila melanogaster Genetics, October 1, 2008; 180(2): 921 - 931. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]