CNRS-UMR 5548 Université de Bourgogne 6, Bd Gabriel, 21000 Dijon, France.
In cockroaches, the cuticular surface of the abdomen is often covered by a proteinaceous secretion. Some of these proteins are involved in the sexual behavior. Male's tergal secretions are licked and eaten by the female before mating. In L. maderae, adults of both sexes secrete a pool of various proteins on the whole surface of the abdomen. In males, a specific tergal protein (p22) was characterized as a lipocalin. Immunohistochemistry proved that this lipocalin is produced by glands similar to those which produce sex pheromone. SDS-PAGE analyses of male and female surface secretions revealed the presence of four major proteins in the blend. P18, p22 and p72 are male specific. The p54 protein is present in both males and females. P18, p54 and p72 were trypsined in situ and the obtained polypeptides were separated by reverse phase HPLC.Then, polypeptides were microsequenced and primers were designed in order to determine sequences of each protein by using RT-PCR. Experiments are still in course to characterize the other major proteins and to understand their possible role during the copulatory behavior.