Identification and characterization of novel mammalian spermatogenic genes conserved from fly to human

Abstract

Spermatogenesis is a complex and highly regulated developmental process by which round spermatogonial stem cells undergo mitotic proliferation and meiosis, followed by extraordinary differentiation into highly specialized elongated mature sperm. Extensive differences in terms of sperm production such as testicular structure and organization, hormonal regulation are reported between humans and insects, yet it is not known to what extent components of the process could be conserved and furthermore to what extent the underlying genetic regulators could be shared from insects to mammals. We hence take a genomic approach to identify genes which are expressed in the testes of both fly and mouse through in silico analysis and are phylogenetically conserved across metazoans. Fifty eight testis-enriched, phylogenetically conserved from fly to mouse genes were identified. Among them, 12 genes are novel. Detailed characterization of their murine and human homologs indicate most of them are testis-restricted or enriched and developmentally regulated, thus suggesting that they are important regulators of sperm development in mammals and potential human fertility factors. Our results reveal the existence of spermatogenic homologs with similar testicular expression across a large evolutionary distance, further functional study will be needed to explore the functional conservation among those spermatogenic orthologs.

Seboxplays an important role during the early mouse oogenesisin vitro

“…In the present study, the role of Sebox, which encodes a transcription factor with ovary-restricted expression, was analysed in vitro during the early oogenesis in mice. This developmentally regulated and stage-specific expression pattern was also observed for Sohlh2, the positive control used in this study, and is a hallmark of primary regulators of germ cell development (Hong et al, 2005;Bonilla & Xu, 2008). 2).…”

Functional insights into the testis transcriptome of the edible sea urchin Loxechinus albus

“…The basic processes of spermatogenesis and male gonad development are astonishingly similar in even very different animals, and the genes responsible of these processes are highly conserved59. In echinoderms, for example, functional genes involved in protein folding (e.g., heat-shock proteins, endoplasmin), spermatogenesis cell cycle (e.g., serine/threonine protein kinase, cyclin), cell signaling (e.g., calcitonin peptide-receptor), sperm motility (e.g., dyneins, intraflagellar transport proteins) and development (e.g., DEAD-box proteins, Vasa, Nanos) exhibit high evolutionary conservation among the different classes14.…”

SCaMC-1Like a Member of the Mitochondrial Carrier (MC) Family Preferentially Expressed in Testis and Localized in Mitochondria and Chromatoid Body

“…Other MCs such as ORC2/slc25a2, SCaMC-3L/slc25a41 or AAC4/slc25a31 are also preferentially expressed in mouse testis [4], [6], [18], [59], but their location at the cellular level along spermatogenesis is still uncertain. Surprisingly, human AAC4/SLC25A31 has been detected in the fibrous sheath of the flagellum of spermatozoa, a portion that lacks mitochondria [19].…”