Kasimatis KR, Moerdyk-Schauwecker MJ, Timmermeyer N, Phillips PC. Proteomic and evolutionary analyses of sperm activation identify uncharacterized genes in Caenorhabditis nematodes.
BMC Genomics 2018;
19:593. [PMID:
30086719 PMCID:
PMC6081950 DOI:
10.1186/s12864-018-4980-7]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2018] [Accepted: 07/31/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Nematode sperm have unique and highly diverged morphology and molecular biology. In particular, nematode sperm contain subcellular vesicles known as membranous organelles that are necessary for male fertility, yet play a still unknown role in overall sperm function. Here we take a novel proteomic approach to characterize the functional protein complement of membranous organelles in two Caenorhabditis species: C. elegans and C. remanei.
RESULTS
We identify distinct protein compositions between membranous organelles and the activated sperm body. Two particularly interesting and undescribed gene families-the Nematode-Specific Peptide family, group D and the here designated Nematode-Specific Peptide family, group F-localize to the membranous organelle. Both multigene families are nematode-specific and exhibit patterns of conserved evolution specific to the Caenorhabditis clade. These data suggest gene family dynamics may be a more prevalent mode of evolution than sequence divergence within sperm. Using a CRISPR-based knock-out of the NSPF gene family, we find no evidence of a male fertility effect of these genes, despite their high protein abundance within the membranous organelles.
CONCLUSIONS
Our study identifies key components of this unique subcellular sperm component and establishes a path toward revealing their underlying role in reproduction.
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