Male reproduction is affected by RNA interference of period and timeless in the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria

In all living organisms, behavior, metabolism and physiology are under the regulation of a circadian clock. The molecular machinery of this clock has been conserved throughout the animal kingdom. Besides regulating the circadian timing of a variety of processes through a central oscillating mechanism in the brain, these circadian clock genes were found to have a function in peripheral tissues in different insects. Here, we provide evidence that the circadian clock genes period (per) and timeless (tim) have a role in the male locust reproduction. A knockdown of either of the two genes has no effect on male sexual maturation or behavior, but progeny output in their untreated female copulation partners is affected. Indeed, the fertilization rates of the eggs are lower for females with a per or tim RNAi copulation partner as compared to the eggs deposited by females that mated with a control male. As the sperm content of the seminal vesicles is higher in per or tim knockdown males, we suggest that this phenotype could be caused by a disturbance of the circadian regulated sperm transfer in the male reproductive organs, or an insufficient maturation of the sperm after release from the testes.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload high-quality image (88 K)Download as PowerPoint slideHighlights► Per and tim RNAi is only effective in testes and accessory glands, not in the brain. ► Knockdown in males results in a higher sperm content of the seminal vesicles. ► Only the untreated females with a per RNAi copulation partner deposit fewer eggs. ► Females with a per or tim copulation partners deposit more unfertilized eggs.