A polycystin-1 controls postcopulatory reproductive selection in mice

KA Sutton, MK Jungnickel… - Proceedings of the …, 2008 - National Acad Sciences
KA Sutton, MK Jungnickel, HM Florman
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2008National Acad Sciences
Pkdrej, a member of the polycystin-1 gene family, is expressed only in the male germ line.
Male mice that are homozygous for a targeted mutation in the Pkdrej allele (Pkdrejtm/tm) are
fertile in unrestricted mating trials, but exhibit lower reproductive success when competing
with wild-type males in sequential mating trials and in artificial insemination of mixed-sperm
populations. Following mating, sperm from Pkdrejtm/tm mice require> 2 h longer than those
of wild-type males to be detected within the egg/cumulus complex in the oviduct. Sperm from …
Pkdrej, a member of the polycystin-1 gene family, is expressed only in the male germ line. Male mice that are homozygous for a targeted mutation in the Pkdrej allele (Pkdrejtm/tm) are fertile in unrestricted mating trials, but exhibit lower reproductive success when competing with wild-type males in sequential mating trials and in artificial insemination of mixed-sperm populations. Following mating, sperm from Pkdrejtm/tm mice require >2 h longer than those of wild-type males to be detected within the egg/cumulus complex in the oviduct. Sperm from mice of both genotypes are able to capacitate in vitro. However, one of the component processes of capacitation, the ability to undergo a zona pellucida–evoked acrosome reaction, develops more slowly in sperm from Pkdrejtm/tm animals than in sperm from wild-type males. In contrast, a second component process of capacitation, the transition to hyperactivated flagellar motility, develops with a similar time course in both genotypes. These two behavioral consequences of capacitation, exocytotic competence and altered motility, are therefore differentially regulated. These data suggest that Pkdrej controls the timing of fertilization in vivo through effects on sperm transport and exocytotic competence and is a factor in postcopulatory sexual selection.
National Acad Sciences