Hdh-Tektin-4 Regulates Motility of Fresh and Cryopreserved Sperm in Pacific Abalone, Haliotis discus hannai

Abstract

As structural components of sperm, tektins are thought to play a fundamental role in sperm flagellar motility. In this study, Tektin-4 (Hdh-TEKT4) gene was successfully cloned and characterized from the testis tissue in Pacific abalone, Haliotis discus hannai. The full-length cDNA of Hdh-TEKT4 was 1,983 bp, with a coding region of 1,350 bp encoding 51.83 kDa putative protein of 449 deduced amino acids. Hdh-TEKT4 contains a tektin domain including a nonapeptide signature motif (RPGVDLCRD). Fluorescence in situ hybridization revealed that Hdh-TEKT4 localized in the spermatids of Pacific abalone testis. qRT-PCR analysis showed that Hdh-TEKT4 was predominantly expressed in testis tissues. Hdh-TEKT4 mRNA expression was upregulated during the fully mature testicular developmental stage in both seasonal development and EAT exposed abalone. Furthermore, mRNA expression of Hdh-TEKT4 was significantly higher in sperm with higher motility than in sperm with lower motility during peak breeding season, induced spawning activity stages, and after cryopreservation in different cryoprotectants. Taken together, these results indicate that the expression of Hdh-TEKT4 in Pacific abalone sperm might have a positive correlation with sperm motility.

Saccharides Influence Sperm Quality and Expressions of Motility and Fertilization-Associated Genes in Cryopreserved Sperm of Pacific Abalone, Haliotis discus hannai

“…Sperm cryopreserved using 3% S + 8% DMSO showed higher mRNA content of Axp66.0 and tektin-4 than other examined samples. Downregulated mRNA content of tektin-4 was also previously reported in sperm cryopreserved using P-CPAs (Sukhan et al, 2022). The present study is the first to report the mRNA content of Axp66.0 in cryopreserved sperm of any organism.…”

“…Quantitative RT-PCR (qPCR) is a vital technique to determine post-thaw sperm quality by assessing the mRNA content of sperm motility-regulating genes ( Riesco et al, 2019 ; Hossen et al, 2021a ). In marine mollusk, this method has been applied previously for abalone and oyster sperm ( Riesco et al, 2019 ; Hossen et al, 2021a ; Hossen et al, 2021b ; Sukhan et al, 2022 ). It is well-known that the ion channel regulates the motility of sperm ( Ren et al, 2001 ; Navarro et al, 2008 ).…”

“…Pacific abalone, Haliotis discus hannai is high-priced seafood highly demandable in Korea and Southeast Asia ( Sukhan et al, 2022 ). It contains bioactive molecules with antioxidant and anticancer activities that are beneficial for human health ( Suleria et al, 2017 ; Hossen et al, 2021a ).…”

“…Among invertebrate species, the Pacific abalone is the main commercial aquaculture species in Korea ( Sharker et al, 2020 ; Sukhan et al, 2021 ). Commercial aquaculture of abalone mostly depends on hatchery-produced seeds ( Sukhan et al, 2022 ). Seed production of Pacific abalone using in vitro fertilization requires good quality and a high quantity of sperm ( Kim et al, 2020a ).…”

“…They are the main components of the sperm flagellum cytoskeleton that can regulate sperm motility ( Cao et al, 2018 ; Alshawa et al, 2019 ). Cryopreservation can also suppress tektins in post-thaw sperm of abalone ( Sukhan et al, 2022 ).…”