Project description:Male germ cell development is dependent on the orchestrated regulation of gene networks. TAF7 like (Taf7l) is situated on the X chromosome and has been implicated in testis development. We examined the biology of TAF7L in testis development using the rat. Taf7l disruption resulted in male infertility due to compromised testis development and failed sperm production. An arrest in the progression of meiosis was observed.
Project description:Male germ cell meiosis is essential for generating haploid spermatozoa in mice. Here, we investigate the essential role of DIS3L2 in male germ cell meiosis in mice. Conditional inactivation of DIS3L2 in spermatocytes with Stra8-cre transgenic mice have severely impaired meiotic progression, which results in defective meosis and spermatogenesis associated with a Sertoli cell-only syndrome and adult sterility. RNA-seq analysis reveales that Dis3l2 deficiency causes significant dysregulation of the expression of transcripts in mutant testes. Meiosis-assocaited genes are significantly decreased in the absence of DIS3L2. Therefore, we show that DIS3L2 ribonuclease plays a critical role in germ cell meiosis during spermatogenesis in mice.
Project description:Male germ cells establish a unique heterochromatin domain, the XY-body, early in meiosis. How this domain is maintained through the end of meiosis and into post-meiotic germ cell differentiation is poorly understood. ADAD2 is a late meiotic male germ cell specific RNA binding protein, loss of which leads to post-meiotic germ cell defects. Analysis of ribosome association in Adad2 mutants revealed defective translation of Mdc1, a key regulator of XY-body formation, late in meiosis. As a result, Adad2 mutants show normal establishment but failed maintenance of the XY-body. Observed XY-body defects are concurrent with abnormal autosomal heterochromatin and ultimately lead to severely perturbed post-meiotic germ cell heterochromatin and cell death. These findings highlight the requirement of ADAD2 for Mdc1 translation, the role of MDC1 in maintaining meiotic male germ cell heterochromatin, and the importance of late meiotic heterochromatin for normal post-meiotic germ cell differentiation.
Project description:To study the dynamic of DNA methylation during male gametogenesis 9 stages of germ cells were purified, then DNA samples (n=4/stage) were analyzed by Rat Methyl seq capture
Project description:The miRNAs expression profile of four typical stages of tooth development, embryonic day 35 (E35), E45, E50, and E60, which cover the major morphological and physiological changes in pig tooth germ growth and development throughout pregnancy, including the bud, cap, early bell, and late bell stages.
Project description:In grasses, phased small interfering RNAs (phasiRNAs), 21- or 24-nucleotide (nt) in length, are predominantly expressed in anthers and regulate male fertility. However, their targets and mode of action on the targets remain unknown. Here we profile phasiRNA expression in premeiotic and meiotic spikelets as well as in purified male meiocytes at early prophase I, tetrads and microspores in rice. We show that 21-nt phasiRNAs are most abundant in meiocytes at early prophase I while 24-nt phasiRNAs are more abundant in tetrads and microspores. By performing highly sensitive degradome sequencing, we find that 21-nt phasiRNAs direct target mRNA cleavage in male germ cells, especially in meiocytes at early prophase I. The target genes in early prophase I meiocytes show an enrichment for carbohydrate biosynthetic and metabolic pathways. Our study provides strong evidence that 21-nt phasiRNAs act in a target-cleavage mode and may facilitate the progression of meiosis by fine-tuning carbohydrate biosynthesis and metabolism in male germ cells.
Project description:The miRNAs expression profile of four typical stages of tooth development, embryonic day 35 (E35), E45, E50, and E60, which cover the major morphological and physiological changes in pig tooth germ growth and development throughout pregnancy, including the bud, cap, early bell, and late bell stages. Four-condition experiment: E35 vs. E45 vs. E50 vs. E60. Biological replicates: 3, independently removed under a microscope. Four replicates per array.
Project description:TFIID is a general transcription factor required for transcription of most protein-coding genes by RNA polymerase II. TAF7L is an X-linked germ cell-specific paralogue of TAF7, which is a generally expressed component of TFIID. Here we report the generation of Taf7l mutant mice by homologous recombination in embryonic stem cells using the Cre-loxP strategy. While spermatogenesis is completed in Taf7l mutant mice, the weight of Taf7l mutant testis is decreased and the amount of sperm in the epididymis is sharply reduced. Mutant epididymal sperm exhibit abnormal morphology including folded tails. Sperm motility is significantly reduced, and Taf7l mutant males are fertile with reduced litter size. Microarray profiling reveals that the abundance of six gene transcripts (including Fscn1) in Taf7l mutant testis decreases by > 2-fold. In particular, FSCN1 is an F-action-bundling protein and thus may be critical for normal sperm morphology and sperm motility. Although deficiency of Taf7l may be compensated in part by Taf7, Taf7l has apparently evolved new specialized functions in the gene-selective transcription in male germ-cell differentiation. Our mouse studies suggest that mutations in human TAF7L gene might be implicated in X-linked oligozoospermia in men. Keywords: genetic modification
Project description:TFIID is a general transcription factor required for transcription of most protein-coding genes by RNA polymerase II. TAF7L is an X-linked germ cell-specific paralogue of TAF7, which is a generally expressed component of TFIID. Here we report the generation of Taf7l mutant mice by homologous recombination in embryonic stem cells using the Cre-loxP strategy. While spermatogenesis is completed in Taf7l mutant mice, the weight of Taf7l mutant testis is decreased and the amount of sperm in the epididymis is sharply reduced. Mutant epididymal sperm exhibit abnormal morphology including folded tails. Sperm motility is significantly reduced, and Taf7l mutant males are fertile with reduced litter size. Microarray profiling reveals that the abundance of six gene transcripts (including Fscn1) in Taf7l mutant testis decreases by > 2-fold. In particular, FSCN1 is an F-action-bundling protein and thus may be critical for normal sperm morphology and sperm motility. Although deficiency of Taf7l may be compensated in part by Taf7, Taf7l has apparently evolved new specialized functions in the gene-selective transcription in male germ-cell differentiation. Our mouse studies suggest that mutations in human TAF7L gene might be implicated in X-linked oligozoospermia in men. Experiment Overall Design: Mice on C57BL/6J strain background were selected. Testes from Taf7l mutant and wild type littermates at 8-weeks old were dissected.