Proteomic Analysis of Dimorphic Sperm in Pieris Rapae

Over 1,600 proteins were identified in the dimorphic sperm of the Cabbage White butterfly, Pieris rapae, using high-resolution mass spectrometry. The dataset, authored by Melissa Plakke, reveals differential protein enrichment between fertilizing eupyrene and non-fertilizing apyrene sperm morphs.

Use Cases

• Perform differential abundance analysis on proteins enriched for ion transport and vacuolar acidification in eupyrene sperm.
• Compare mitochondrial and respiratory function protein profiles between eupyrene and apyrene sperm morphs.
• Conduct comparative homology analyses of sperm proteins across Lepidoptera species like Danaus plexippus and Manduca sexta.
• Investigate the evolutionary dynamics of sperm proteomes using the identified set of over 1,600 proteins.

Strengths

• Identifies over 1,600 proteins, nearly doubling previous reports for other lepidopteran species.
• Provides differential abundance analysis distinguishing protein functions between two sperm morphs.
• Includes comparative homology data with two other Lepidoptera species.

Limitations

• Data is provided as a DOCX document, requiring extraction for computational analysis.
• The dataset is small at 1.6 MB, limiting the depth of raw proteomic data available.
• Sample size and specific row/column counts for the underlying data are unknown.

Provenance

Source

Melissa Plakke via figshare.

Collection Method

High-resolution, label-free mass spectrometry proteomic analysis.

Time Range

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Freshness

Last updated March 2026.

Geography

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