It frequently has been postulated that intersexual coevolution between the male ejaculate and the female reproductive tract is a driving force in the rapid evolution of reproductive proteins. The dearth of research on female tracts, however, presents a major obstacle to empirical tests of this hypothesis. Here, we employ a comparative EST approach to identify 241 candidate female reproductive p...

During the preadult development of Drosophila melanogaster, the GLD (glucose dehydrogenase) gene (Gld) is expressed in a variety of tissues, including the immature reproductive tract. At the adult stage the expression of Gld becomes largely restricted to the reproductive tract of males and females. We examined the expression of GLD in the adult reproductive tract of 50 species in the genus Dros...

Background: In the past decade, childlessness has become a most important problem in the world. At the same time evidence confirms a link between sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and infertility problem. Some of viral STDs are: HIV, HPV, HSVand so on. The innate immune system is essential for the initial detection of invading viruses and subsequent activation of adaptive immunity. also, The...

BACKGROUND The reproductive consequences and mechanisms of action of chronic exposure to low-dose endocrine disruptors are poorly understood. OBJECTIVE We assessed the effects of a continuous, low-dose exposure to a phytoestrogen (genistein) and/or an antiandrogenic food contaminant (vinclozolin) on the male reproductive tract and fertility. METHODS Male rats were exposed by gavage to genis...

Male-derived accessory gland proteins that are transferred to females during mating have profound effects on female reproductive physiology including increased ovulation, mating inhibition, and effects on sperm utilization and storage. The extreme rates of evolution seen in accessory gland proteins may be driven by sperm competition and sexual conflict, processes that may ultimately drive compl...

Human spermatozoa are quiescent in the male reproductive system and must undergo activation once introduced into the female reproductive tract. This process is known to require alkalinization of sperm cytoplasm, but the mechanism responsible for transmembrane proton extrusion has remained unknown because of the inability to measure membrane conductance in human sperm. Here, by successfully patc...

Carboxylesterases (CEs) represent a multigene family of serine-dependent enzymes. Male-dependent CEs are over-expressed in the male reproductive tract of different animal species (bivalve mollusks, fruit-flies, and mammals). Here, a novel rat epididymis-specific gene named Ces7 was cloned and characterized. It was a novel member of CE family, which was mainly expressed and secreted to the lumen...

reproductive abnormalities cause major losses of sheep production. abattoir materials were used todetermine the extent of reproductive wastage. reproductive tracts were collected from 524 ewes slaughtered at urmia slaughter-house in urmia, northwest of iran, during a period of 12 months. overall, 30.10% of the ewes examined were pregnant. a total of 149 (28.44%) tracts developed acquired reprod...