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Diaz-Miranda EA, Penitente-Filho JM, Gomez-Leon VE, Neto TM, Guimarães SF, Siqueira JB, Guimarães JD. Selection based on the Breeding Soundness Evaluation is associated with the improvement of the reproductive quality of young Nellore bulls. Theriogenology 2024; 226:369-377. [PMID: 38970923 DOI: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2024.06.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2024] [Revised: 06/24/2024] [Accepted: 06/27/2024] [Indexed: 07/08/2024]
Abstract
Breeding soundness evaluation (BSE) is the best methodology to estimate the fertility potential of future bulls and performing indirect selection for their fertility. However, the outcome of the BSE is influenced by several factors, including genetics, environment, and BSE guidelines. Herein, in this retrospective study, our first aim was to characterize the reasons for failure in 46,566 BSE from 2-year-old beef Bos indicus bulls (Nellore) born from 1997 to 2018. Our second aim was to determine whether or not BSE was associated with reproductive potential improvement of the bulls over the years. Due to changes in the BSE criteria, we used the same dataset, but only bulls born from 2002 to 2018 were included resulting in 35,856 BSE. For the second aim, the effect of the year and farm were included in the model of the multivariate logistic regression. We also determined if the main reasons for BSE failure decreased over time. Bulls were classified as approved (satisfactory potential breeders and qualified for natural breeding service) and not approved (deferred and unsatisfactory potential breeders). The reasons for BSE failure in Nellore bulls were poor semen quality (53.1 %) and physical defects (46.9 %), with the main physical defect being testis abnormalities (19.7 %). The overall percentage of bulls approved each year was 87.1 %, with no improvement over the years of study. However, the percentage of approved bulls at the first BSE increased over the years (P < 0.05). This increase was evident by a reduction in the difference between the overall percentage of the bulls approved vs the percentage of bulls approved at the first BSE. Furthermore, there was an increase in the percentage of bulls classified as satisfactory potential breeders in the BSE and an evident decrease in the percentage of bulls qualified only for natural breeding service (P < 0.05). In addition, an increase of the scrotal circumference (SC) of the herd was found (P < 0.05). These results indicate the overall quality of the bulls improved over the years. To associate and identify the main sperm abnormalities, 3461 not approved bulls were clustered. The most frequent defects were strongly coiled tail spermatozoa, proximal droplets, and acrosomal defects. Overall, there was no change in the frequency of bulls not approved by the sperm morphology nor the frequency of the main sperm abnormalities over the years. Nevertheless, the frequency of the defects remained very low, implying they were controlled. Additionally, abnormalities in the testis decreased over the years and was associated with the increase in the SC of the herd and a decrease of culled bulls due to low SC. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that there is an association between implementation and use of BSE with improvements in the reproductive quality of future generation bulls.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edgar Andres Diaz-Miranda
- Department of Veterinary, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, Brazil; Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health, University of Missouri School of Medicine, Columbia, MO, USA.
| | | | - Victor E Gomez-Leon
- Department of Animal Sciences and Industry, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA
| | | | | | - Jeanne Broch Siqueira
- Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Universidade Federal Dos Vales Do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri, Unaí, Minas Gerais, Brazil
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Sutovsky P, Hamilton LE, Zigo M, Ortiz D’Avila Assumpção ME, Jones A, Tirpak F, Agca Y, Kerns K, Sutovsky M. Biomarker-based human and animal sperm phenotyping: the good, the bad and the ugly†. Biol Reprod 2024; 110:1135-1156. [PMID: 38640912 PMCID: PMC11180624 DOI: 10.1093/biolre/ioae061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2023] [Revised: 03/28/2024] [Accepted: 04/17/2024] [Indexed: 04/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Conventional, brightfield-microscopic semen analysis provides important baseline information about sperm quality of an individual; however, it falls short of identifying subtle subcellular and molecular defects in cohorts of "bad," defective human and animal spermatozoa with seemingly normal phenotypes. To bridge this gap, it is desirable to increase the precision of andrological evaluation in humans and livestock animals by pursuing advanced biomarker-based imaging methods. This review, spiced up with occasional classic movie references but seriously scholastic at the same time, focuses mainly on the biomarkers of altered male germ cell proteostasis resulting in post-testicular carryovers of proteins associated with ubiquitin-proteasome system. Also addressed are sperm redox homeostasis, epididymal sperm maturation, sperm-seminal plasma interactions, and sperm surface glycosylation. Zinc ion homeostasis-associated biomarkers and sperm-borne components, including the elements of neurodegenerative pathways such as Huntington and Alzheimer disease, are discussed. Such spectrum of biomarkers, imaged by highly specific vital fluorescent molecular probes, lectins, and antibodies, reveals both obvious and subtle defects of sperm chromatin, deoxyribonucleic acid, and accessory structures of the sperm head and tail. Introduction of next-generation image-based flow cytometry into research and clinical andrology will soon enable the incorporation of machine and deep learning algorithms with the end point of developing simple, label-free methods for clinical diagnostics and high-throughput phenotyping of spermatozoa in humans and economically important livestock animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Sutovsky
- Division of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia MO, USA
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health, University of Missouri, Columbia MO, USA
| | - Lauren E Hamilton
- Division of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia MO, USA
| | - Michal Zigo
- Division of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia MO, USA
| | - Mayra E Ortiz D’Avila Assumpção
- Division of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia MO, USA
- Department of Animal Reproduction, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Alexis Jones
- Division of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia MO, USA
| | - Filip Tirpak
- Division of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia MO, USA
| | - Yuksel Agca
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA
| | - Karl Kerns
- Department of Animal Science, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA
| | - Miriam Sutovsky
- Division of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia MO, USA
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3
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O’Callaghan E, Navarrete-Lopez P, Štiavnická M, Sánchez JM, Maroto M, Pericuesta E, Fernández-González R, O’Meara C, Eivers B, Kelleher MM, Evans RD, Mapel XM, Lloret-Villas A, Pausch H, Balastegui-Alarcón M, Avilés M, Sanchez-Rodriguez A, Roldan ERS, McDonald M, Kenny DA, Fair S, Gutiérrez-Adán A, Lonergan P. Adenylate kinase 9 is essential for sperm function and male fertility in mammals. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2305712120. [PMID: 37812723 PMCID: PMC10589668 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2305712120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2023] [Accepted: 08/23/2023] [Indexed: 10/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite passing routine laboratory tests for semen quality, bulls used in artificial insemination exhibit significant variation in fertility. Routine analysis of fertility data identified a dairy bull with extreme subfertility (10% pregnancy rate). To characterize the subfertility phenotype, a range of in vitro, in vivo, and molecular assays were carried out. Sperm from the subfertile bull exhibited reduced motility and severely reduced caffeine-induced hyperactivation compared to controls. Ability to penetrate the zona pellucida, cleavage rate, cleavage kinetics, and blastocyst yield after IVF or AI were significantly lower than in control bulls. Whole-genome sequencing from semen and RNA sequencing of testis tissue revealed a critical mutation in adenylate kinase 9 (AK9) that impaired splicing, leading to a premature termination codon and a severely truncated protein. Mice deficient in AK9 were generated to further investigate the function of the gene; knockout males were phenotypically indistinguishable from their wild-type littermates but produced immotile sperm that were incapable of normal fertilization. These sperm exhibited numerous abnormalities, including a low ATP concentration and reduced motility. RNA-seq analysis of their testis revealed differential gene expression of components of the axoneme and sperm flagellum as well as steroid metabolic processes. Sperm ultrastructural analysis showed a high percentage of sperm with abnormal flagella. Combined bovine and murine data indicate the essential metabolic role of AK9 in sperm motility and/or hyperactivation, which in turn affects sperm binding and penetration of the zona pellucida. Thus, AK9 has been found to be directly implicated in impaired male fertility in mammals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena O’Callaghan
- Animal and Crop Sciences, School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, DublinD04 V1W8, Ireland
| | - Paula Navarrete-Lopez
- Departamento de Reproducción Animal, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria-Centro Nacional integrado en la Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid28040, Spain
| | - Miriama Štiavnická
- Department of Biological Sciences, Bernal Institute, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Limerick, LimerickV94 T9PX, Ireland
| | - José M. Sánchez
- Animal and Crop Sciences, School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, DublinD04 V1W8, Ireland
- Departamento de Reproducción Animal, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria-Centro Nacional integrado en la Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid28040, Spain
| | - Maria Maroto
- Departamento de Reproducción Animal, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria-Centro Nacional integrado en la Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid28040, Spain
| | - Eva Pericuesta
- Departamento de Reproducción Animal, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria-Centro Nacional integrado en la Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid28040, Spain
| | - Raul Fernández-González
- Departamento de Reproducción Animal, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria-Centro Nacional integrado en la Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid28040, Spain
| | - Ciara O’Meara
- National Cattle Breeding Centre, County KildareW91 WF59, Ireland
| | - Bernard Eivers
- National Cattle Breeding Centre, County KildareW91 WF59, Ireland
| | - Margaret M. Kelleher
- Irish Cattle Breeding Federation, Link Road, Ballincollig, County CorkP31 D452, Ireland
| | - Ross D. Evans
- Irish Cattle Breeding Federation, Link Road, Ballincollig, County CorkP31 D452, Ireland
| | - Xena M. Mapel
- Animal Genomics, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zürich, Zürich8092, Switzerland
| | - Audald Lloret-Villas
- Animal Genomics, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zürich, Zürich8092, Switzerland
| | - Hubert Pausch
- Animal Genomics, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zürich, Zürich8092, Switzerland
| | - Miriam Balastegui-Alarcón
- Departamento de Biología Celular e Histología, Universidad de Murcia-Instituto Murciano de Investigación Biosanitaria Pascual Parrilla, Murcia30120, Spain
| | - Manuel Avilés
- Departamento de Biología Celular e Histología, Universidad de Murcia-Instituto Murciano de Investigación Biosanitaria Pascual Parrilla, Murcia30120, Spain
| | - Ana Sanchez-Rodriguez
- Departmento de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid28006, Spain
| | - Eduardo R. S. Roldan
- Departmento de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid28006, Spain
| | - Michael McDonald
- Animal and Crop Sciences, School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, DublinD04 V1W8, Ireland
| | - David A. Kenny
- Animal and Bioscience Department, Teagasc, Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Grange, Dunsany, County MeathC15 PW93, Ireland
| | - Sean Fair
- Department of Biological Sciences, Bernal Institute, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Limerick, LimerickV94 T9PX, Ireland
| | - Alfonso Gutiérrez-Adán
- Departamento de Reproducción Animal, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria-Centro Nacional integrado en la Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid28040, Spain
| | - Patrick Lonergan
- Animal and Crop Sciences, School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, DublinD04 V1W8, Ireland
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Dai X, Bian P, Hu D, Luo F, Huang Y, Jiao S, Wang X, Gong M, Li R, Cai Y, Wen J, Yang Q, Deng W, Nanaei HA, Wang Y, Wang F, Zhang Z, Rosen BD, Heller R, Jiang Y. A Chinese indicine pangenome reveals a wealth of novel structural variants introgressed from other Bos species. Genome Res 2023; 33:1284-1298. [PMID: 37714713 PMCID: PMC10547261 DOI: 10.1101/gr.277481.122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2022] [Accepted: 06/30/2023] [Indexed: 09/17/2023]
Abstract
Chinese indicine cattle harbor a much higher genetic diversity compared with other domestic cattle, but their genome architecture remains uninvestigated. Using PacBio HiFi sequencing data from 10 Chinese indicine cattle across southern China, we assembled 20 high-quality partially phased genomes and integrated them into a multiassembly graph containing 148.5 Mb (5.6%) of novel sequence. We identified 156,009 high-confidence nonredundant structural variants (SVs) and 206 SV hotspots spanning ∼195 Mb of gene-rich sequence. We detected 34,249 archaic introgressed fragments in Chinese indicine cattle covering 1.93 Gb (73.3%) of the genome. We inferred an average of 3.8%, 3.2%, 1.4%, and 0.5% of introgressed sequence originating, respectively, from banteng-like, kouprey-like, gayal-like, and gaur-like Bos species, as well as 0.6% of unknown origin. Introgression from multiple donors might have contributed to the genetic diversity of Chinese indicine cattle. Altogether, this study highlights the contribution of interspecies introgression to the genomic architecture of an important livestock population and shows how exotic genomic elements can contribute to the genetic variation available for selection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuelei Dai
- Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Shaanxi Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
| | - Peipei Bian
- Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Shaanxi Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
| | - Dexiang Hu
- Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Shaanxi Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
| | - Funong Luo
- Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Shaanxi Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
| | - Yongzhen Huang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Shaanxi Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
| | - Shaohua Jiao
- Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Shaanxi Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
| | - Xihong Wang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Shaanxi Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
| | - Mian Gong
- Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Shaanxi Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
| | - Ran Li
- Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Shaanxi Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
| | - Yudong Cai
- Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Shaanxi Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
| | - Jiayue Wen
- Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Shaanxi Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
| | - Qimeng Yang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Shaanxi Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
| | - Weidong Deng
- Faculty of Animal Science and Technology, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming 650201, China
| | - Hojjat Asadollahpour Nanaei
- Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Shaanxi Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
- Reproductive Biotechnology Research Center, Avicenna Research Institute, ACECR, Tehran 1983969412, Iran
| | - Yu Wang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Shaanxi Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
| | - Fei Wang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Shaanxi Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
| | - Zijing Zhang
- Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science, Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou 450002, China
| | - Benjamin D Rosen
- Animal Genomics and Improvement Laboratory, USDA-ARS, Beltsville, Maryland 20705, USA
| | - Rasmus Heller
- Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark;
| | - Yu Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Shaanxi Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China;
- Key Laboratory of Livestock Biology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
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5
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Pausch H, Mapel XM. Review: Genetic mutations affecting bull fertility. Animal 2023; 17 Suppl 1:100742. [PMID: 37567657 DOI: 10.1016/j.animal.2023.100742] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2022] [Revised: 01/23/2023] [Accepted: 01/24/2023] [Indexed: 08/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Cattle are a well-suited "model organism" to study the genetic underpinnings of variation in male reproductive performance. The adoption of artificial insemination and genomic prediction in many cattle breeds provide access to microarray-derived genotypes and repeated measurements for semen quality and insemination success in several thousand bulls. Similar-sized mapping cohorts with phenotypes for male fertility are not available for most other species precluding powerful association testing. The repeated measurements of the artificial insemination bulls' semen quality enable the differentiation between transient and biologically relevant trait fluctuations, and thus, are an ideal source of phenotypes for variance components estimation and genome-wide association testing. Genome-wide case-control association testing involving bulls with either aberrant sperm quality or low insemination success revealed several causal recessive loss-of-function alleles underpinning monogenic reproductive disorders. These variants are routinely monitored with customised genotyping arrays in the male selection candidates to avoid the use of subfertile or infertile bulls for artificial insemination and natural service. Genome-wide association studies with quantitative measurements of semen quality and insemination success revealed quantitative trait loci for male fertility, but the underlying causal variants remain largely unknown. Moreover, these loci explain only a small part of the heritability of male fertility. Integrating genome-wide association studies with gene expression and other omics data from male reproductive tissues is required for the fine-mapping of candidate causal variants underlying variation in male reproductive performance in cattle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hubert Pausch
- Animal Genomics, Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, Universitaetstrasse 2, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
| | - Xena Marie Mapel
- Animal Genomics, Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, Universitaetstrasse 2, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
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6
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Saleem T, Jamal SB, Alzahrani B, Basheer A, Wajid Abbasi S, Ali M, Rehman AU, Faheem M. In-silico drug design for the novel Karachi-NF001 strain of brain-eating amoeba: Naegleria fowleri. Front Mol Biosci 2023; 10:1098217. [PMID: 36845543 PMCID: PMC9948250 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2023.1098217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2022] [Accepted: 01/23/2023] [Indexed: 02/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Naegleria fowleri (N. fowleri) is a free-living thermophilic amoeba of fresh water and soil. The amoeba primarily feeds on bacteria but can be transmitted to humans upon contact with freshwater sources. Furthermore, this brain-eating amoeba enters the human body through the nose and travels to the brain to cause primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). N. fowleri has been reported globally since its discovery in 1961. Recently a new strain of N. fowleri named Karachi-NF001 was found in a patient who had traveled from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to Karachi in 2019. There were 15 unique genes identified in the genome of the Karachi-NF001 strain compared to all the previously reported strains of N. fowleri worldwide. Six of these genes encode well-known proteins. In this study, we performed in-silico analysis on 5 of these 6 proteins, namely, Rab family small GTPase, NADH dehydrogenase subunit 11, two Glutamine-rich protein 2 proteins (locus tags: 12086 and 12110), and Tigger transposable element-derived protein 1. We conducted homology modeling of these 5 proteins followed by their active site identification. These proteins were subjected to molecular docking against 105 anti-bacterial ligand compounds as potential drugs. Subsequently, the 10 best-docked compounds were determined for each protein and ranked according to the number of interactions and their binding energies. The highest binding energy was recorded for the two Glutamine-rich protein 2 proteins with different locus tags, and results have shown that the protein-inhibitor complex was stable throughout the simulation run. Moreover, future in-vitro studies could validate the findings of our in-silico analysis and identify potential therapeutic drugs against N. fowleri infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tayyab Saleem
- Department of Life Technologies, Faculty of Technology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Syed Babar Jamal
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Medical Sciences, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
| | - Badr Alzahrani
- Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Jouf University, Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
| | - Amina Basheer
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Medical Sciences, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
| | - Sumra Wajid Abbasi
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Medical Sciences, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
| | - Mahwish Ali
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Medical Sciences, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
| | - Ashfaq Ur Rehman
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
| | - Muhammad Faheem
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Medical Sciences, Rawalpindi, Pakistan,*Correspondence: Muhammad Faheem,
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7
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Silva C, Viana P, Barros A, Sá R, Sousa M, Pereira R. Further Insights on RNA Expression and Sperm Motility. Genes (Basel) 2022; 13:genes13071291. [PMID: 35886074 PMCID: PMC9319021 DOI: 10.3390/genes13071291] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2022] [Revised: 07/14/2022] [Accepted: 07/18/2022] [Indexed: 12/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Asthenozoospermia is one of the main causes of male infertility and it is characterized by reduced sperm motility. Several mutations in genes that code for structural or functional constituents of the sperm have already been identified as known causes of asthenozoospermia. In contrast, the role of sperm RNA in regulating sperm motility is still not fully understood. Consequently, here we aim to contribute to the knowledge regarding the expression of sperm RNA, and ultimately, to provide further insights into its relationship with sperm motility. We investigated the expression of a group of mRNAs by using real-time PCR (CATSPER3, CFAP44, CRHR1, HIP1, IQCG KRT34, LRRC6, QRICH2, RSPH6A, SPATA33 and TEKT2) and the highest score corresponding to the target miRNA for each mRNA in asthenozoospermic and normozoospermic individuals. We observed a reduced expression of all mRNAs and miRNAs in asthenozoospermic patients compared to controls, with a more accentuated reduction in patients with progressive sperm motility lower than 15%. Our work provides further insights regarding the role of RNA in regulating sperm motility. Further studies are required to determine how these genes and their corresponding miRNA act regarding sperm motility, particularly KRT34 and CRHR1, which have not previously been seen to play a significant role in regulating sperm motility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolina Silva
- Laboratory of Cell Biology, Department of Microscopy, ICBAS-School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto, UMIB-Unit for Multidisciplinary Research in Biomedicine, ICBAS/ITR-Laboratory for Integrative and Translational Research in Population Health, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal; (C.S.); (R.S.); (M.S.)
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra (FMUC), 3000-370 Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Paulo Viana
- Centre for Reproductive Genetics A. Barros, 4100-012 Porto, Portugal; (P.V.); (A.B.)
| | - Alberto Barros
- Centre for Reproductive Genetics A. Barros, 4100-012 Porto, Portugal; (P.V.); (A.B.)
- Department of Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto (FMUP), 4200-319 Porto, Portugal
- Institute of Health Research and Innovation (IPATIMUP/i3S), University of Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
| | - Rosália Sá
- Laboratory of Cell Biology, Department of Microscopy, ICBAS-School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto, UMIB-Unit for Multidisciplinary Research in Biomedicine, ICBAS/ITR-Laboratory for Integrative and Translational Research in Population Health, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal; (C.S.); (R.S.); (M.S.)
| | - Mário Sousa
- Laboratory of Cell Biology, Department of Microscopy, ICBAS-School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto, UMIB-Unit for Multidisciplinary Research in Biomedicine, ICBAS/ITR-Laboratory for Integrative and Translational Research in Population Health, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal; (C.S.); (R.S.); (M.S.)
| | - Rute Pereira
- Laboratory of Cell Biology, Department of Microscopy, ICBAS-School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto, UMIB-Unit for Multidisciplinary Research in Biomedicine, ICBAS/ITR-Laboratory for Integrative and Translational Research in Population Health, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal; (C.S.); (R.S.); (M.S.)
- Correspondence:
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8
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Leonard AS, Crysnanto D, Fang ZH, Heaton MP, Vander Ley BL, Herrera C, Bollwein H, Bickhart DM, Kuhn KL, Smith TPL, Rosen BD, Pausch H. Structural variant-based pangenome construction has low sensitivity to variability of haplotype-resolved bovine assemblies. Nat Commun 2022; 13:3012. [PMID: 35641504 PMCID: PMC9156671 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-30680-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2021] [Accepted: 05/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Advantages of pangenomes over linear reference assemblies for genome research have recently been established. However, potential effects of sequence platform and assembly approach, or of combining assemblies created by different approaches, on pangenome construction have not been investigated. Here we generate haplotype-resolved assemblies from the offspring of three bovine trios representing increasing levels of heterozygosity that each demonstrate a substantial improvement in contiguity, completeness, and accuracy over the current Bos taurus reference genome. Diploid coverage as low as 20x for HiFi or 60x for ONT is sufficient to produce two haplotype-resolved assemblies meeting standards set by the Vertebrate Genomes Project. Structural variant-based pangenomes created from the haplotype-resolved assemblies demonstrate significant consensus regardless of sequence platform, assembler algorithm, or coverage. Inspecting pangenome topologies identifies 90 thousand structural variants including 931 overlapping with coding sequences; this approach reveals variants affecting QRICH2, PRDM9, HSPA1A, TAS2R46, and GC that have potential to affect phenotype.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander S Leonard
- Animal Genomics, ETH Zurich, Universitaetstrasse 2, 8006, Zurich, Switzerland.
| | - Danang Crysnanto
- Animal Genomics, ETH Zurich, Universitaetstrasse 2, 8006, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Zih-Hua Fang
- Animal Genomics, ETH Zurich, Universitaetstrasse 2, 8006, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Michael P Heaton
- U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, USDA-ARS, 844 Road 313, Clay Center, NE, 68933, USA
| | - Brian L Vander Ley
- Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, 68588, USA
| | - Carolina Herrera
- Clinic of Reproductive Medicine, Department for Farm Animals, University of Zurich, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Heinrich Bollwein
- Clinic of Reproductive Medicine, Department for Farm Animals, University of Zurich, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Derek M Bickhart
- Dairy Forage Research Center, USDA-ARS, 1925 Linden Drive, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - Kristen L Kuhn
- U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, USDA-ARS, 844 Road 313, Clay Center, NE, 68933, USA
| | - Timothy P L Smith
- U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, USDA-ARS, 844 Road 313, Clay Center, NE, 68933, USA
| | - Benjamin D Rosen
- Animal Genomics and Improvement Laboratory, USDA-ARS, 10300 Baltimore Ave, Beltsville, MD, 20705, USA.
| | - Hubert Pausch
- Animal Genomics, ETH Zurich, Universitaetstrasse 2, 8006, Zurich, Switzerland.
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