Fig. 1: Confocal laser scanning microscopy and micro computed tomography (microCT) visualization of the distal D. melanogaster seminal receptacle and the lower reproductive tract.

a Schematic image of the Drosophila female reproductive tract showing the ovaries (OV), common oviduct (CO), seminal receptacle (SR), a pair of spermathecae (Spt), female accessory glands (AG) and a uterus (UT). b Representative confocal maximum projection image of seminal receptacle of 3-day-old female mated to dj-GFP male at 24 h post-mating; note the distal (d) and proximal (p) regions of the seminal receptacle. c Confocal bright field and fluorescence image of 3-day-old female mated to pro-GFP male showing sperm heads (GFP) and tails (bright field, marked by white asterisk) inside the distal seminal receptacle lumen. MicroCT 3D images of the lower reproductive tract (d) and a correlative image (microCT and confocal) (e) of sperm in the seminal receptacle indicating the position of the distal and proximal regions in relation to the spermatheca and the uterus. Scale bar: b = 20 µm; c–e = 100 µm.