TY - JOUR
T1 - A cross-species approach for the identification of Drosophila male sterility genes
AU - Ibaraki, Kimihide
AU - Nakatsuka, Mihoko
AU - Ohsako, Takashi
AU - Watanabe, Masahide
AU - Miyazaki, Yu
AU - Shirakami, Machi
AU - Karr, Timothy L.
AU - Sanuki, Rikako
AU - Tomaru, Masatoshi
AU - Takano-Shimizu-Kouno, Toshiyuki
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Genetics Society of America.
PY - 2021/8
Y1 - 2021/8
N2 - Male reproduction encompasses many essential cellular processes and interactions. As a focal point for these events, sperm offer opportunities for advancing our understanding of sexual reproduction at multiple levels during development. Using male sterility genes identified in human, mouse, and fruit fly databases as a starting point, 103 Drosophila melanogaster genes were screened for their association with male sterility by tissue-specific RNAi knockdown and CRISPR/Cas9-mediated mutagenesis. This list included 56 genes associated with male infertility in the human databases, but not found in the Drosophila database, resulting in the discovery of 63 new genes associated with male fertility in Drosophila. The phenotypes identified were categorized into six distinct classes affecting sperm development. Interestingly, the second largest class (Class VI) caused sterility despite apparently normal testis and sperm morphology suggesting that these proteins may have functions in the mature sperm following spermatogenesis. We focused on one such gene, Rack 1, and found that it plays an important role in two developmental periods, in early germline cells or germline stem cells and in spermatogenic cells or sperm. Taken together, many genes are yet to be identified and their role in male reproduction, especially after ejaculation, remains to be elucidated in Drosophila, where a wealth of data from human and other model organisms would be useful.
AB - Male reproduction encompasses many essential cellular processes and interactions. As a focal point for these events, sperm offer opportunities for advancing our understanding of sexual reproduction at multiple levels during development. Using male sterility genes identified in human, mouse, and fruit fly databases as a starting point, 103 Drosophila melanogaster genes were screened for their association with male sterility by tissue-specific RNAi knockdown and CRISPR/Cas9-mediated mutagenesis. This list included 56 genes associated with male infertility in the human databases, but not found in the Drosophila database, resulting in the discovery of 63 new genes associated with male fertility in Drosophila. The phenotypes identified were categorized into six distinct classes affecting sperm development. Interestingly, the second largest class (Class VI) caused sterility despite apparently normal testis and sperm morphology suggesting that these proteins may have functions in the mature sperm following spermatogenesis. We focused on one such gene, Rack 1, and found that it plays an important role in two developmental periods, in early germline cells or germline stem cells and in spermatogenic cells or sperm. Taken together, many genes are yet to be identified and their role in male reproduction, especially after ejaculation, remains to be elucidated in Drosophila, where a wealth of data from human and other model organisms would be useful.
KW - Cross-species approach
KW - Drosophila
KW - Human male infertility
KW - Male sterility
KW - Rack1
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85114185868&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85114185868&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/g3journal/jkab183
DO - 10.1093/g3journal/jkab183
M3 - Article
C2 - 34849808
AN - SCOPUS:85114185868
SN - 2160-1836
VL - 11
JO - G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics
JF - G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics
IS - 8
M1 - jkab183
ER -