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Li C, Ren Y, Chen MY, Wang Q, He Z, Wang YF. CG9920 is necessary for mitochondrial morphogenesis and individualization during spermatogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster. Dev Biol 2024; 512:13-25. [PMID: 38703942 DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2024.04.008] [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: 08/24/2023] [Revised: 04/12/2024] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 05/06/2024]
Abstract
Drosophila melanogaster is an ideal model organism for investigating spermatogenesis due to its powerful genetics, conserved genes and visible morphology of germ cells during sperm production. Our previous work revealed that ocnus (ocn) knockdown resulted in male sterility, and CG9920 was identified as a significantly downregulated protein in fly abdomen after ocn knockdown, suggesting a role of CG9920 in male reproduction. In this study, we found that CG9920 was highly expressed in fly testes. CG9920 knockdown in fly testes caused male infertility with no mature sperms in seminal vesicles. Immunofluorescence staining showed that depletion of CG9920 resulted in scattered spermatid nuclear bundles, fewer elongation cones that did not migrate to the anterior region of the testis, and almost no individualization complexes. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that CG9920 knockdown severely disrupted mitochondrial morphogenesis during spermatogenesis. Notably, we found that CG9920 might not directly interact with Ocn, but rather was inhibited by STAT92E, which itself was indirectly affected by Ocn. We propose a possible novel pathway essential for spermatogenesis in D. melanogaster, whereby Ocn indirectly induces CG9920 expression, potentially counteracting its inhibition by the JAK-STAT signaling pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chao Li
- School of Life Sciences, Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, PR China
| | - Yue Ren
- School of Life Sciences, Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, PR China
| | - Meng-Yan Chen
- School of Life Sciences, Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, PR China
| | - Qian Wang
- School of Life Sciences, Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, PR China
| | - Zhen He
- School of Life Sciences, Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, PR China
| | - Yu-Feng Wang
- School of Life Sciences, Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, PR China.
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2
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Lebherz MK, Iyengar BR, Bornberg-Bauer E. Modeling Length Changes in De Novo Open Reading Frames during Neutral Evolution. Genome Biol Evol 2024; 16:evae129. [PMID: 38879874 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evae129] [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] [Accepted: 06/06/2024] [Indexed: 07/06/2024] Open
Abstract
For protein coding genes to emerge de novo from a non-genic DNA, the DNA sequence must gain an open reading frame (ORF) and the ability to be transcribed. The newborn de novo gene can further evolve to accumulate changes in its sequence. Consequently, it can also elongate or shrink with time. Existing literature shows that older de novo genes have longer ORF, but it is not clear if they elongated with time or remained of the same length since their inception. To address this question we developed a mathematical model of ORF elongation as a Markov-jump process, and show that ORFs tend to keep their length in short evolutionary timescales. We also show that if change occurs it is likely to be a truncation. Our genomics and transcriptomics data analyses of seven Drosophila melanogaster populations are also in agreement with the model's prediction. We conclude that selection could facilitate ORF length extension that may explain why longer ORFs were observed in old de novo genes in studies analysing longer evolutionary time scales. Alternatively, shorter ORFs may be purged because they may be less likely to yield functional proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie Kristin Lebherz
- Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Münster, Hüfferstrasse 1, Münster 48149, Germany
| | - Bharat Ravi Iyengar
- Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Münster, Hüfferstrasse 1, Münster 48149, Germany
| | - Erich Bornberg-Bauer
- Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Münster, Hüfferstrasse 1, Münster 48149, Germany
- Department of Protein Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen, Max-Planck-Ring 5, Tübingen 72076, Germany
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3
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Zhang Q, Fan X, Fu F, Zhu Y, Luo G, Chen H. Adar Regulates Drosophila melanogaster Spermatogenesis via Modulation of BMP Signaling. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:5643. [PMID: 38891830 PMCID: PMC11171878 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25115643] [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: 04/11/2024] [Revised: 05/16/2024] [Accepted: 05/20/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024] Open
Abstract
The dynamic process of Drosophila spermatogenesis involves asymmetric division, mitosis, and meiosis, which ultimately results in the production of mature spermatozoa. Disorders of spermatogenesis can lead to infertility in males. ADAR (adenosine deaminase acting on RNA) mutations in Drosophila cause male infertility, yet the causative factors remain unclear. In this study, immunofluorescence staining was employed to visualize endogenous ADAR proteins and assess protein levels via fluorescence-intensity analysis. In addition, the early differentiation disorders and homeostatic alterations during early spermatogenesis in the testes were examined through quantification of transit-amplifying region length, counting the number of GSCs (germline stem cells), and fertility experiments. Our findings suggest that deletion of ADAR causes testicular tip transit-amplifying cells to accumulate and become infertile in older male Drosophila. By overexpressing ADAR in early germline cells, male infertility can be partially rescued. Transcriptome analysis showed that ADAR maintained early spermatogenesis homeostasis through the bone-morphogenetic-protein (BMP) signaling pathway. Taken together, these findings have the potential to help explore the role of ADAR in early spermatogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qian Zhang
- MOE Key Laboratory of Gene Function and Regulation, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Functional Genes, State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
- Laboratory of Stem Cell and Aging Research, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-Related Molecular Network, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Health and Multimorbidity and National Clinical Research Center for Geriatrics, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Xinxin Fan
- Laboratory of Stem Cell and Aging Research, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-Related Molecular Network, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Health and Multimorbidity and National Clinical Research Center for Geriatrics, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Fang Fu
- Laboratory of Stem Cell and Aging Research, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-Related Molecular Network, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Health and Multimorbidity and National Clinical Research Center for Geriatrics, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Yuedan Zhu
- Laboratory of Stem Cell and Aging Research, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-Related Molecular Network, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Health and Multimorbidity and National Clinical Research Center for Geriatrics, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
| | - Guanzheng Luo
- MOE Key Laboratory of Gene Function and Regulation, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Functional Genes, State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
| | - Haiyang Chen
- Laboratory of Stem Cell and Aging Research, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-Related Molecular Network, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Health and Multimorbidity and National Clinical Research Center for Geriatrics, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
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4
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Lee U, Li C, Langer CB, Svetec N, Zhao L. Comparative Single Cell Analysis of Transcriptional Bursting Reveals the Role of Genome Organization on de novo Transcript Origination. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.04.29.591771. [PMID: 38746255 PMCID: PMC11092510 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.29.591771] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
Spermatogenesis is a key developmental process underlying the origination of newly evolved genes. However, rapid cell type-specific transcriptomic divergence of the Drosophila germline has posed a significant technical barrier for comparative single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-Seq) studies. By quantifying a surprisingly strong correlation between species-and cell type-specific divergence in three closely related Drosophila species, we apply a simple statistical procedure to identify a core set of 198 genes that are highly predictive of cell type identity while remaining robust to species-specific differences that span over 25-30 million years of evolution. We then utilize cell type classifications based on the 198-gene set to show how transcriptional divergence in cell type increases throughout spermatogenic developmental time, contrasting with traditional hourglass models of whole-organism development. With these cross-species cell type classifications, we then investigate the influence of genome organization on the molecular evolution of spermatogenesis vis-a-vis transcriptional bursting. We first demonstrate how mechanistic control of pre-meiotic transcription is achieved by altering transcriptional burst size while post-meiotic control is exerted via altered bursting frequency. We then report how global differences in autosomal vs. X chromosomal transcription likely arise in a developmental stage preceding full testis organogenesis by showing evolutionarily conserved decreases in X-linked transcription bursting kinetics in all examined somatic and germline cell types. Finally, we provide evidence supporting the cultivator model of de novo gene origination by demonstrating how the appearance of newly evolved testis-specific transcripts potentially provides short-range regulation of the transcriptional bursting properties of neighboring genes during key stages of spermatogenesis.
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Vedelek V, Jankovics F, Zádori J, Sinka R. Mitochondrial Differentiation during Spermatogenesis: Lessons from Drosophila melanogaster. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:3980. [PMID: 38612789 PMCID: PMC11012351 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25073980] [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: 02/06/2024] [Revised: 03/22/2024] [Accepted: 03/28/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Numerous diseases can arise as a consequence of mitochondrial malfunction. Hence, there is a significant focus on studying the role of mitochondria in cancer, ageing, neurodegenerative diseases, and the field of developmental biology. Mitochondria could exist as discrete organelles in the cell; however, they have the ability to fuse, resulting in the formation of interconnected reticular structures. The dynamic changes between these forms correlate with mitochondrial function and mitochondrial health, and consequently, there is a significant scientific interest in uncovering the specific molecular constituents that govern these transitions. Moreover, the specialized mitochondria display a wide array of variable morphologies in their cristae formations. These inner mitochondrial structures are closely associated with the specific functions performed by the mitochondria. In multiple cases, the presence of mitochondrial dysfunction has been linked to male sterility, as it has been observed to cause a range of abnormal spermatogenesis and sperm phenotypes in different species. This review aims to elucidate the dynamic alterations and functions of mitochondria in germ cell development during the spermatogenesis of Drosophila melanogaster.
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Affiliation(s)
- Viktor Vedelek
- Department of Genetics, Faculty of Science and Informatics, University of Szeged, 6726 Szeged, Hungary
| | - Ferenc Jankovics
- Institute of Genetics, HUN-REN Biological Research Centre, 6726 Szeged, Hungary;
- Department of Medical Biology, Albert Szent-Györgyi Medical Centre, University of Szeged, 6720 Szeged, Hungary
| | - János Zádori
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Albert Szent-Györgyi Medical Centre, University of Szeged, 6723 Szeged, Hungary;
| | - Rita Sinka
- Department of Genetics, Faculty of Science and Informatics, University of Szeged, 6726 Szeged, Hungary
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Nunes WVB, Oliveira DS, Dias GDR, Carvalho AB, Caruso ÍP, Biselli JM, Guegen N, Akkouche A, Burlet N, Vieira C, Carareto CMA. A comprehensive evolutionary scenario for the origin and neofunctionalization of the Drosophila speciation gene Odysseus (OdsH). G3 (BETHESDA, MD.) 2024; 14:jkad299. [PMID: 38156703 PMCID: PMC10917504 DOI: 10.1093/g3journal/jkad299] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2023] [Revised: 11/22/2023] [Accepted: 12/20/2023] [Indexed: 01/03/2024]
Abstract
Odysseus (OdsH) was the first speciation gene described in Drosophila related to hybrid sterility in offspring of mating between Drosophila mauritiana and Drosophila simulans. Its origin is attributed to the duplication of the gene unc-4 in the subgenus Sophophora. By using a much larger sample of Drosophilidae species, we showed that contrary to what has been previously proposed, OdsH origin occurred 62 MYA. Evolutionary rates, expression, and transcription factor-binding sites of OdsH evidence that it may have rapidly experienced neofunctionalization in male sexual functions. Furthermore, the analysis of the OdsH peptide allowed the identification of mutations of D. mauritiana that could result in incompatibility in hybrids. In order to find if OdsH could be related to hybrid sterility, beyond Sophophora, we explored the expression of OdsH in Drosophila arizonae and Drosophila mojavensis, a pair of sister species with incomplete reproductive isolation. Our data indicated that OdsH expression is not atypical in their male-sterile hybrids. In conclusion, we have proposed that the origin of OdsH occurred earlier than previously proposed, followed by neofunctionalization. Our results also suggested that its role as a speciation gene might be restricted to D. mauritiana and D. simulans.
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Affiliation(s)
- William Vilas Boas Nunes
- Institute of Biosciences, Humanities and Exact Sciences, São Paulo State University (Unesp), 2265 Cristóvão Colombo Street, 15054-000 São José do Rio Preto, Brazil
- Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive UMR 5558, Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, CNRS, Bât. Grégor Mendel, 43 Boulevard 11 Novembre 1918, 69622 Villeurbanne, France
| | - Daniel Siqueira Oliveira
- Institute of Biosciences, Humanities and Exact Sciences, São Paulo State University (Unesp), 2265 Cristóvão Colombo Street, 15054-000 São José do Rio Preto, Brazil
- Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive UMR 5558, Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, CNRS, Bât. Grégor Mendel, 43 Boulevard 11 Novembre 1918, 69622 Villeurbanne, France
| | - Guilherme de Rezende Dias
- Departamento de Genética, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, CCS sl A2-075, 373 Carlos Chagas Filho Avenue, 21941-971 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Antonio Bernardo Carvalho
- Departamento de Genética, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, CCS sl A2-075, 373 Carlos Chagas Filho Avenue, 21941-971 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Ícaro Putinhon Caruso
- Institute of Biosciences, Humanities and Exact Sciences, São Paulo State University (Unesp), 2265 Cristóvão Colombo Street, 15054-000 São José do Rio Preto, Brazil
| | - Joice Matos Biselli
- Institute of Biosciences, Humanities and Exact Sciences, São Paulo State University (Unesp), 2265 Cristóvão Colombo Street, 15054-000 São José do Rio Preto, Brazil
| | - Nathalie Guegen
- Faculté de Médecine, iGReD, Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, INSERM, 4 Bd Claude Bernard, 63000 Clermont-Ferrande, France
| | - Abdou Akkouche
- Faculté de Médecine, iGReD, Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, INSERM, 4 Bd Claude Bernard, 63000 Clermont-Ferrande, France
| | - Nelly Burlet
- Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive UMR 5558, Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, CNRS, Bât. Grégor Mendel, 43 Boulevard 11 Novembre 1918, 69622 Villeurbanne, France
| | - Cristina Vieira
- Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive UMR 5558, Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, CNRS, Bât. Grégor Mendel, 43 Boulevard 11 Novembre 1918, 69622 Villeurbanne, France
| | - Claudia M A Carareto
- Institute of Biosciences, Humanities and Exact Sciences, São Paulo State University (Unesp), 2265 Cristóvão Colombo Street, 15054-000 São José do Rio Preto, Brazil
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7
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Chen X, Qi Y, Huang Q, Sun C, Zheng Y, Ji L, Shi Y, Cheng X, Li Z, Zheng S, Cao Y, Gu Z, Yu J. Single-cell transcriptome characteristics of testicular terminal epithelium lineages during aging in the Drosophila. Aging Cell 2024; 23:e14057. [PMID: 38044573 PMCID: PMC10928582 DOI: 10.1111/acel.14057] [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: 06/02/2023] [Revised: 11/14/2023] [Accepted: 11/17/2023] [Indexed: 12/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Aging is a complex biological process leading to impaired functions, with a variety of hallmarks. In the testis of Drosophila, the terminal epithelium region is involved in spermatid release and maturation, while its functional diversity and regulatory mechanism remain poorly understood. In this study, we performed single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (scRNA-seq) to characterize the transcriptomes of terminal epithelium in Drosophila testes at 2-, 10 and 40-Days. Terminal epithelium populations were defined with Metallothionein A (MtnA) and subdivided into six novel sub-cell clusters (EP0-EP5), and a series of marker genes were identified based on their expressions. The data revealed the functional characteristics of terminal epithelium populations, such as tight junction, focal adhesion, bacterial invasion, oxidative stress, mitochondrial function, proteasome, apoptosis and metabolism. Interestingly, we also found that disrupting genes for several relevant pathways in terminal epithelium led to male fertility disorders. Moreover, we also discovered a series of age-biased genes and pseudotime trajectory mediated state-biased genes during terminal epithelium aging. Differentially expressed genes during terminal epithelium aging were mainly participated in the regulation of several common signatures, e.g. mitochondria-related events, protein synthesis and degradation, and metabolic processes. We further explored the Drosophila divergence and selection in the functional constraints of age-biased genes during aging, revealing that age-biased genes in epithelial cells of 2 Days group evolved rapidly and were endowed with greater evolutionary advantages. scRNA-seq analysis revealed the diversity of testicular terminal epithelium populations, providing a gene target resource for further systematic research of their functions during aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xia Chen
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nantong First People's HospitalAffiliated Hospital 2 of Nantong University; Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong UniversityNantongJiangsuChina
| | - Yujuan Qi
- Clinical Center of Reproductive Medicine, Xuzhou Central HospitalXuzhou Clinical School of Xuzhou Medical UniversityXuzhouChina
| | - Qiuru Huang
- Institute of Reproductive MedicineMedical School of Nantong University, Nantong UniversityNantongChina
| | - Chi Sun
- Department of GeriatricsAffiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong UniversityNantongChina
| | - Yanli Zheng
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nantong First People's HospitalAffiliated Hospital 2 of Nantong University; Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong UniversityNantongJiangsuChina
| | - Li Ji
- Institute of Reproductive MedicineMedical School of Nantong University, Nantong UniversityNantongChina
| | - Yi Shi
- Institute of Reproductive MedicineMedical School of Nantong University, Nantong UniversityNantongChina
| | - Xinmeng Cheng
- Institute of Reproductive MedicineMedical School of Nantong University, Nantong UniversityNantongChina
| | - Zhenbei Li
- Clinical Center of Reproductive Medicine, Xuzhou Central HospitalXuzhou Clinical School of Xuzhou Medical UniversityXuzhouChina
| | - Sen Zheng
- Clinical Center of Reproductive Medicine, Xuzhou Central HospitalXuzhou Clinical School of Xuzhou Medical UniversityXuzhouChina
| | - Yijuan Cao
- Clinical Center of Reproductive Medicine, Xuzhou Central HospitalXuzhou Clinical School of Xuzhou Medical UniversityXuzhouChina
| | - Zhifeng Gu
- Department of RheumatologyAffiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong UniversityNantongChina
| | - Jun Yu
- Institute of Reproductive MedicineMedical School of Nantong University, Nantong UniversityNantongChina
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8
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Peng J, Zhao L. The origin and structural evolution of de novo genes in Drosophila. Nat Commun 2024; 15:810. [PMID: 38280868 PMCID: PMC10821953 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45028-1] [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: 02/23/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2024] [Indexed: 01/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Recent studies reveal that de novo gene origination from previously non-genic sequences is a common mechanism for gene innovation. These young genes provide an opportunity to study the structural and functional origins of proteins. Here, we combine high-quality base-level whole-genome alignments and computational structural modeling to study the origination, evolution, and protein structures of lineage-specific de novo genes. We identify 555 de novo gene candidates in D. melanogaster that originated within the Drosophilinae lineage. Sequence composition, evolutionary rates, and expression patterns indicate possible gradual functional or adaptive shifts with their gene ages. Surprisingly, we find little overall protein structural changes in candidates from the Drosophilinae lineage. We identify several candidates with potentially well-folded protein structures. Ancestral sequence reconstruction analysis reveals that most potentially well-folded candidates are often born well-folded. Single-cell RNA-seq analysis in testis shows that although most de novo gene candidates are enriched in spermatocytes, several young candidates are biased towards the early spermatogenesis stage, indicating potentially important but less emphasized roles of early germline cells in the de novo gene origination in testis. This study provides a systematic overview of the origin, evolution, and protein structural changes of Drosophilinae-specific de novo genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junhui Peng
- Laboratory of Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Li Zhao
- Laboratory of Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.
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9
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Sun C, Shao Y, Iqbal J. Insect Insights at the Single-Cell Level: Technologies and Applications. Cells 2023; 13:91. [PMID: 38201295 PMCID: PMC10777908 DOI: 10.3390/cells13010091] [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: 11/22/2023] [Revised: 12/23/2023] [Accepted: 12/28/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Single-cell techniques are a promising way to unravel the complexity and heterogeneity of transcripts at the cellular level and to reveal the composition of different cell types and functions in a tissue or organ. In recent years, advances in single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) have further changed our view of biological systems. The application of scRNA-seq in insects enables the comprehensive characterization of both common and rare cell types and cell states, the discovery of new cell types, and revealing how cell types relate to each other. The recent application of scRNA-seq techniques to insect tissues has led to a number of exciting discoveries. Here we provide an overview of scRNA-seq and its application in insect research, focusing on biological applications, current challenges, and future opportunities to make new discoveries with scRNA-seq in insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chao Sun
- Analysis Center of Agrobiology and Environmental Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China;
| | - Yongqi Shao
- Institute of Sericulture and Apiculture, College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Junaid Iqbal
- Institute of Sericulture and Apiculture, College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
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10
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Yin Z, Ding G, Xue Y, Yu X, Dong J, Huang J, Ma J, He F. A postmeiotically bifurcated roadmap of honeybee spermatogenesis marked by phylogenetically restricted genes. PLoS Genet 2023; 19:e1011081. [PMID: 38048317 PMCID: PMC10721206 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1011081] [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: 07/03/2023] [Revised: 12/14/2023] [Accepted: 11/22/2023] [Indexed: 12/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Haploid males of hymenopteran species produce gametes through an abortive meiosis I followed by meiosis II that can either be symmetric or asymmetric in different species. Thus, one spermatocyte could give rise to two spermatids with either equal or unequal amounts of cytoplasm. It is currently unknown what molecular features accompany these postmeiotic sperm cells especially in species with asymmetric meiosis II such as bees. Here we present testis single-cell RNA sequencing datasets from the honeybee (Apis mellifera) drones of 3 and 14 days after emergence (3d and 14d). We show that, while 3d testes exhibit active, ongoing spermatogenesis, 14d testes only have late-stage spermatids. We identify a postmeiotic bifurcation in the transcriptional roadmap during spermatogenesis, with cells progressing toward the annotated spermatids (SPT) and small spermatids (sSPT), respectively. Despite an overall similarity in their transcriptomic profiles, sSPTs express the fewest genes and the least RNA content among all the sperm cell types. Intriguingly, sSPTs exhibit a relatively high expression level for Hymenoptera-restricted genes and a high mutation load, suggesting that the special meiosis II during spermatogenesis in the honeybee is accompanied by phylogenetically young gene activities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhiyong Yin
- Center for Genetic Medicine, the Fourth Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Guiling Ding
- State Key Laboratory of Resource Insects, Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory for Insect-Pollinator Biology of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Yingdi Xue
- Center for Genetic Medicine, the Fourth Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Xianghui Yu
- Center for Genetic Medicine, the Fourth Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Jie Dong
- Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jiaxing Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Resource Insects, Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory for Insect-Pollinator Biology of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Jun Ma
- Center for Genetic Medicine, the Fourth Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
- Women’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
- Institute of Genetics, Zhejiang University International School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Genetic and Developmental Disorder, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Feng He
- Center for Genetic Medicine, the Fourth Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
- Women’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
- Institute of Genetics, Zhejiang University International School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Genetic and Developmental Disorder, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
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11
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Anderson JT, Henikoff S, Ahmad K. Chromosome-specific maturation of the epigenome in the Drosophila male germline. eLife 2023; 12:RP89373. [PMID: 38032818 PMCID: PMC10688970 DOI: 10.7554/elife.89373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Spermatogenesis in the Drosophila male germline proceeds through a unique transcriptional program controlled both by germline-specific transcription factors and by testis-specific versions of core transcriptional machinery. This program includes the activation of genes on the heterochromatic Y chromosome, and reduced transcription from the X chromosome, but how expression from these sex chromosomes is regulated has not been defined. To resolve this, we profiled active chromatin features in the testes from wildtype and meiotic arrest mutants and integrate this with single-cell gene expression data from the Fly Cell Atlas. These data assign the timing of promoter activation for genes with germline-enriched expression throughout spermatogenesis, and general alterations of promoter regulation in germline cells. By profiling both active RNA polymerase II and histone modifications in isolated spermatocytes, we detail widespread patterns associated with regulation of the sex chromosomes. Our results demonstrate that the X chromosome is not enriched for silencing histone modifications, implying that sex chromosome inactivation does not occur in the Drosophila male germline. Instead, a lack of dosage compensation in spermatocytes accounts for the reduced expression from this chromosome. Finally, profiling uncovers dramatic ubiquitinylation of histone H2A and lysine-16 acetylation of histone H4 across the Y chromosome in spermatocytes that may contribute to the activation of this heterochromatic chromosome.
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Affiliation(s)
- James T Anderson
- Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer CenterSeattleUnited States
| | - Steven Henikoff
- Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer CenterSeattleUnited States
- Howard Hughes Medical InstituteChevy ChaseUnited States
| | - Kami Ahmad
- Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer CenterSeattleUnited States
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12
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Huang Q, Chen X, Yu H, Ji L, Shi Y, Cheng X, Chen H, Yu J. Structure and molecular basis of spermatid elongation in the Drosophila testis. Open Biol 2023; 13:230136. [PMID: 37935354 PMCID: PMC10645079 DOI: 10.1098/rsob.230136] [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: 05/12/2023] [Accepted: 09/26/2023] [Indexed: 11/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Spermatid elongation is a crucial event in the late stage of spermatogenesis in the Drosophila testis, eventually leading to the formation of mature sperm after meiosis. During spermatogenesis, significant structural and morphological changes take place in a cluster of post-meiotic germ cells, which are enclosed in a microenvironment surrounded by somatic cyst cells. Microtubule-based axoneme assembly, formation of individualization complexes and mitochondria maintenance are key processes involved in the differentiation of elongated spermatids. They provide important structural foundations for accessing male fertility. How these structures are constructed and maintained are basic questions in the Drosophila testis. Although the roles of several genes in different structures during the development of elongated spermatids have been elucidated, the relationships between them have not been widely studied. In addition, the genetic basis of spermatid elongation and the regulatory mechanisms involved have not been thoroughly investigated. In the present review, we focus on current knowledge with regard to spermatid axoneme assembly, individualization complex and mitochondria maintenance. We also touch upon promising directions for future research to unravel the underlying mechanisms of spermatid elongation in the Drosophila testis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiuru Huang
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu 226001, People's Republic of China
| | - Xia Chen
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Affiliated Hospital 2 of Nantong University, Nantong First People's Hospital, Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu 226001, People's Republic of China
| | - Hao Yu
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu 226001, People's Republic of China
| | - Li Ji
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu 226001, People's Republic of China
| | - Yi Shi
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu 226001, People's Republic of China
| | - Xinmeng Cheng
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu 226001, People's Republic of China
| | - Hao Chen
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu 226001, People's Republic of China
| | - Jun Yu
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu 226001, People's Republic of China
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13
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Clifton BD, Hariyani I, Kimura A, Luo F, Nguyen A, Ranz JM. Paralog transcriptional differentiation in the D. melanogaster-specific gene family Sdic across populations and spermatogenesis stages. Commun Biol 2023; 6:1069. [PMID: 37864070 PMCID: PMC10589255 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05427-4] [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: 05/12/2023] [Accepted: 10/05/2023] [Indexed: 10/22/2023] Open
Abstract
How recently originated gene copies become stable genomic components remains uncertain as high sequence similarity of young duplicates precludes their functional characterization. The tandem multigene family Sdic is specific to Drosophila melanogaster and has been annotated across multiple reference-quality genome assemblies. Here we show the existence of a positive correlation between Sdic copy number and total expression, plus vast intrastrain differences in mRNA abundance among paralogs, using RNA-sequencing from testis of four strains with variable paralog composition. Single cell and nucleus RNA-sequencing data expose paralog expression differentiation in meiotic cell types within testis from third instar larva and adults. Additional RNA-sequencing across synthetic strains only differing in their Y chromosomes reveal a tissue-dependent trans-regulatory effect on Sdic: upregulation in testis and downregulation in male accessory gland. By leveraging paralog-specific expression information from tissue- and cell-specific data, our results elucidate the intraspecific functional diversification of a recently expanded tandem gene family.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bryan D Clifton
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA.
| | - Imtiyaz Hariyani
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA
| | - Ashlyn Kimura
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA
| | - Fangning Luo
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA
| | - Alvin Nguyen
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA
| | - José M Ranz
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA.
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14
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Anderson J, Henikoff S, Ahmad K. Chromosome-specific maturation of the epigenome in the Drosophila male germline. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.02.24.529909. [PMID: 37873332 PMCID: PMC10592605 DOI: 10.1101/2023.02.24.529909] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2023]
Abstract
Spermatogenesis in the Drosophila male germline proceeds through a unique transcriptional program controlled both by germline-specific transcription factors and by testis-specific versions of core transcriptional machinery. This program includes the activation of genes on the heterochromatic Y chromosome, and reduced transcription from the X chromosome, but how expression from these sex chromosomes is regulated has not been defined. To resolve this, we profiled active chromatin features in the testes from wildtype and meiotic arrest mutants and integrate this with single-cell gene expression data from the Fly Cell Atlas. These data assign the timing of promoter activation for genes with germline-enriched expression throughout spermatogenesis, and general alterations of promoter regulation in germline cells. By profiling both active RNA polymerase II and histone modifications in isolated spermatocytes, we detail widespread patterns associated with regulation of the sex chromosomes. Our results demonstrate that the X chromosome is not enriched for silencing histone modifications, implying that sex chromosome inactivation does not occur in the Drosophila male germline. Instead, a lack of dosage compensation in spermatocytes accounts for the reduced expression from this chromosome. Finally, profiling uncovers dramatic ubiquitinylation of histone H2A and lysine-16 acetylation of histone H4 across the Y chromosome in spermatocytes that may contribute to the activation of this heterochromatic chromosome.
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Affiliation(s)
- James Anderson
- Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center; Seattle, WA, 98109, USA
| | - Steven Henikoff
- Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center; Seattle, WA, 98109, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Chevy Chase, MD, USA
| | - Kami Ahmad
- Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center; Seattle, WA, 98109, USA
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15
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Sun Z, Nystul TG, Zhong G. Single-cell RNA sequencing identifies eggplant as a regulator of germ cell development in Drosophila. EMBO Rep 2023; 24:e56475. [PMID: 37603128 PMCID: PMC10561367 DOI: 10.15252/embr.202256475] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2022] [Revised: 07/27/2023] [Accepted: 08/01/2023] [Indexed: 08/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Drosophila ovarian germline stem cells (GSCs) are a powerful model for stem cell research. In this study, we use single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), an RNAi screen and bioinformatic analysis, to identify genes involved in germ cell differentiation, including 34 genes with upregulated expression during early germ cell development and 19 genes that may regulate germ cell differentiation. Among these, a gene we have named eggplant (eggpl) is highly expressed in GSCs and downregulated in early daughter cells. RNAi knockdown of eggpl causes germ cell proliferation and differentiation defects. In flies fed a rich yeast diet, the expression of eggpl is significantly lower and knockdown or knockout of eggpl phenocopies a rich diet. In addition, eggpl knockdown suppresses the reduction in germ cell proliferation caused by inhibition of the insulin effector PI3K. These findings suggest that downregulation of eggpl links nutritional status to germ cell proliferation and differentiation. Collectively, this study provides new insights into the signaling networks that regulate early germ cell development and identifies eggpl as a key player in this process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhipeng Sun
- Key Laboratory of Crop Integrated Pest Management in South China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural AffairsSouth China Agricultural UniversityGuangzhouChina
- Key Laboratory of Natural Pesticide and Chemical Biology, Ministry of EducationSouth China Agricultural UniversityGuangzhouChina
| | | | - Guohua Zhong
- Key Laboratory of Crop Integrated Pest Management in South China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural AffairsSouth China Agricultural UniversityGuangzhouChina
- Key Laboratory of Natural Pesticide and Chemical Biology, Ministry of EducationSouth China Agricultural UniversityGuangzhouChina
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16
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Xiong X, Huang X, Zhu Y, Hai Z, Fei X, Pan B, Yang Q, Xiong Y, Fu W, Lan D, Zhang X, Li J. Testis-specific knockout of Kdm2a reveals nonessential roles in male fertility but partially compromises spermatogenesis. Theriogenology 2023; 209:9-20. [PMID: 37354760 DOI: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2023.06.008] [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: 12/27/2022] [Revised: 06/05/2023] [Accepted: 06/06/2023] [Indexed: 06/26/2023]
Abstract
Lysine-specific histone demethylase 2 (Kdm2a) is a regulatory factor of histone modifications that participates in gametogenesis and embryonic development. The mis-regulation of Kdm2a can lead to aberrant gene expression, thereby contributing to abnormal cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, and tumorigenesis. However, due to the potential confounding effects that are secondary to the loss of Kdm2a function from the soma in existing whole-animal mutants, the in vivo function of Kdm2a in spermatogenesis for male fertility remains unknown. Herein, we focus on exploring the spatiotemporal expression profile and biological functions of Kdm2a in the spermatogenesis and fertility of male mice. A testis-specific knockout Kdm2a model (Kdm2a cKO) was established by using the Stra8-Cre/loxP recombinase system to explore the roles of Kdm2a in male fertility. Our results showed that Kdm2a was ubiquitously expressed and dynamically distributed in multiple tissues and cell types in the testis of mice. Surprisingly, Kdm2a-deficient adult males were completely fertile and comparable with their control (Kdm2aflox/flox) counterparts. Despite the significantly reduced total number of sperm and density of seminiferous tubules in Kdm2a cKO testis accompanied by the degeneration of spermatogenesis, the fertilization ability and embryonic developmental competence of the Kdm2a cKO were comparable with those of their control littermates, suggesting that Kdm2a disruption did not markedly affect male fertility, at least during younger ages. Furthermore, Kdm2a homozygous mutants exhibited a lower total number and motility of sperm than the control group and showed notably affected serum 17β-estradiol concentration. Interestingly, the transcriptome sequencing revealed that the loss of Kdm2a remarkably upregulated the expression level of Kdm2b. This effect, in turn, may induce compensative effects in the case of Kdm2a deficiency to maintain normal male reproduction. Together, our results reveal that Kdm2a shows spatiotemporal expression during testicular development and that its loss is insufficient to compromise the production of spermatozoa completely. The homologous Kdm2b gene might compensate for the loss of Kdm2a. Our work provides a novel Kdm2a cKO mouse allowing for the efficient deletion of Kdm2a in a testis-specific manner, and further investigated the biological function of Kdm2a and the compensatory effects of Kdm2b. Our study will advance our understanding of underlying mechanisms in spermatogenesis and male fertility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xianrong Xiong
- Key Laboratory of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Animal Genetic Resource Reservation and Exploitation of Ministry of Education, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, PR China
| | - Xiangyue Huang
- Key Laboratory for Animal Science of State Ethnic Affairs Commission, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, PR China
| | - Yanjin Zhu
- Key Laboratory for Animal Science of State Ethnic Affairs Commission, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, PR China
| | - Zhuo Hai
- Key Laboratory of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Animal Genetic Resource Reservation and Exploitation of Ministry of Education, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, PR China
| | - Xixi Fei
- Key Laboratory for Animal Science of State Ethnic Affairs Commission, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, PR China
| | - Bangting Pan
- Key Laboratory of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Animal Genetic Resource Reservation and Exploitation of Ministry of Education, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, PR China
| | - Qinhui Yang
- Key Laboratory of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Animal Genetic Resource Reservation and Exploitation of Ministry of Education, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, PR China
| | - Yan Xiong
- Key Laboratory of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Animal Genetic Resource Reservation and Exploitation of Ministry of Education, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, PR China
| | - Wei Fu
- Key Laboratory of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Animal Genetic Resource Reservation and Exploitation of Ministry of Education, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, PR China
| | - Daoliang Lan
- Key Laboratory of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Animal Genetic Resource Reservation and Exploitation of Ministry of Education, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, PR China
| | - Xiaojian Zhang
- Center for Assisted Reproduction, Sichuan Academy of Medical Science, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, 610072, PR China
| | - Jian Li
- Key Laboratory of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Animal Genetic Resource Reservation and Exploitation of Ministry of Education, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, PR China; Key Laboratory for Animal Science of State Ethnic Affairs Commission, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, PR China.
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17
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Grill S, Riley A, Selvaraj M, Lehmann R. HP6/Umbrea is dispensable for viability and fertility, suggesting essentiality of newly evolved genes is rare. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2309478120. [PMID: 37725638 PMCID: PMC10523450 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2309478120] [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: 06/05/2023] [Accepted: 07/15/2023] [Indexed: 09/21/2023] Open
Abstract
The newly evolved gene Heterochromatin Protein 6 (HP6), which has been previously classified as essential, challenged the dogma that functions required for viability are only seen in genes with a long evolutionary history. Based on previous RNA-sequencing analysis in Drosophila germ cells, we asked whether HP6 might play a role in germline development. Surprisingly, we found that CRISPR-generated HP6 mutants are viable and fertile. Using previously generated mutants, we identified an independent lethal allele and an RNAi off-target effect that prevented accurate interpretation of HP6 essentiality. By reviewing existing data, we found that the vast majority of young genes that were previously classified as essential were indeed viable when tested with orthologous methods. Together, our data call into question the frequency with which newly evolved genes gain essential functions and suggest that using multiple independent genetic methods is essential when probing the functions of young genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sherilyn Grill
- Department of Biology, Whitehead Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA02142
| | - Ashley Riley
- Department of Biology, Whitehead Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA02142
| | - Monica Selvaraj
- Department of Biology, Whitehead Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA02142
| | - Ruth Lehmann
- Department of Biology, Whitehead Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA02142
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18
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Li AYZ, Di Y, Rathore S, Chiang ACY, Jezek J, Ma H. Milton assembles large mitochondrial clusters, mitoballs, to sustain spermatogenesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2306073120. [PMID: 37579146 PMCID: PMC10450580 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2306073120] [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: 04/25/2023] [Accepted: 07/13/2023] [Indexed: 08/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Mitochondria are dynamic organelles that undergo frequent remodeling to accommodate developmental needs. Here, we describe a striking organization of mitochondria into a large ball-like structure adjacent to the nucleus in premeiotic Drosophila melanogaster spermatocytes, which we term "mitoball". Mitoballs are transient structures that colocalize with the endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi bodies, and the fusome. We observed similar premeiotic mitochondrial clusters in a wide range of insect species, including mosquitos and cockroaches. Through a genetic screen, we identified that Milton, an adaptor protein that links mitochondria to microtubule-based motors, mediates mitoball formation. Flies lacking a 54 amino acid region in the C terminus of Milton completely lacked mitoballs, had swollen mitochondria in their spermatocytes, and showed reduced male fertility. We suggest that the premeiotic mitochondrial clustering is a conserved feature of insect spermatogenesis that supports sperm development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andy Y. Z. Li
- Wellcome/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute, CambridgeCB2 1QN, United Kingdom
- Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, CambridgeCB2 3EH, United Kingdom
| | - Ying Di
- Wellcome/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute, CambridgeCB2 1QN, United Kingdom
- Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, CambridgeCB2 3EH, United Kingdom
| | - Sumaera Rathore
- Wellcome/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute, CambridgeCB2 1QN, United Kingdom
- Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, CambridgeCB2 3EH, United Kingdom
| | - Ason C.-Y. Chiang
- Wellcome/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute, CambridgeCB2 1QN, United Kingdom
- Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, CambridgeCB2 3EH, United Kingdom
- School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, BirminghamB15 2TT, United Kingdom
| | - Jan Jezek
- Wellcome/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute, CambridgeCB2 1QN, United Kingdom
- Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, CambridgeCB2 3EH, United Kingdom
| | - Hansong Ma
- Wellcome/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute, CambridgeCB2 1QN, United Kingdom
- Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, CambridgeCB2 3EH, United Kingdom
- School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, BirminghamB15 2TT, United Kingdom
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19
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Kakino K, Mon H, Ebihara T, Hino M, Masuda A, Lee JM, Kusakabe T. Comprehensive Transcriptome Analysis in the Testis of the Silkworm, Bombyx mori. INSECTS 2023; 14:684. [PMID: 37623394 PMCID: PMC10455414 DOI: 10.3390/insects14080684] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2023] [Revised: 07/26/2023] [Accepted: 08/01/2023] [Indexed: 08/26/2023]
Abstract
Spermatogenesis is an important process in reproduction and is conserved across species, but in Bombyx mori, it shows peculiarities, such as the maintenance of spermatogonia by apical cells and fertilization by dimorphic spermatozoa. In this study, we attempted to characterize the genes expressed in the testis of B. mori, focusing on aspects of expression patterns and gene function by transcriptome comparisons between different tissues, internal testis regions, and Drosophila melanogaster. The transcriptome analysis of 12 tissues of B. mori, including those of testis, revealed the widespread gene expression of 20,962 genes and 1705 testis-specific genes. A comparative analysis of the stem region (SR) and differentiated regions (DR) of the testis revealed 4554 and 3980 specific-enriched genes, respectively. In addition, comparisons with D. melanogaster testis transcriptome revealed homologs of 1204 SR and 389 DR specific-enriched genes that were similarly expressed in equivalent regions of Drosophila testis. Moreover, gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis was performed for SR-specific enriched genes and DR-specific enriched genes, and the GO terms of several biological processes were enriched, confirming previous findings. This study advances our understanding of spermatogenesis in B. mori and provides an important basis for future research, filling a knowledge gap between fly and mammalian studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kohei Kakino
- Laboratory of Insect Genome Science, Kyushu University Graduate School of Bioresource and Bioenvironmental Sciences, Motooka 744, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan; (K.K.); (H.M.); (T.E.)
| | - Hiroaki Mon
- Laboratory of Insect Genome Science, Kyushu University Graduate School of Bioresource and Bioenvironmental Sciences, Motooka 744, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan; (K.K.); (H.M.); (T.E.)
| | - Takeru Ebihara
- Laboratory of Insect Genome Science, Kyushu University Graduate School of Bioresource and Bioenvironmental Sciences, Motooka 744, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan; (K.K.); (H.M.); (T.E.)
| | - Masato Hino
- Laboratory of Sanitary Entomology, Kyushu University Graduate School of Bioresource and Bioenvironmental Sciences, Motooka 744, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan;
| | - Akitsu Masuda
- Laboratory of Creative Science for Insect Industries, Kyushu University Graduate School of Bioresource and Bioenvironmental Sciences, Motooka 744, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan; (A.M.); (J.M.L.)
| | - Jae Man Lee
- Laboratory of Creative Science for Insect Industries, Kyushu University Graduate School of Bioresource and Bioenvironmental Sciences, Motooka 744, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan; (A.M.); (J.M.L.)
| | - Takahiro Kusakabe
- Laboratory of Insect Genome Science, Kyushu University Graduate School of Bioresource and Bioenvironmental Sciences, Motooka 744, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan; (K.K.); (H.M.); (T.E.)
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20
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Ma H, Wang M, Zhang YE, Tan S. The power of "controllers": Transposon-mediated duplicated genes evolve towards neofunctionalization. J Genet Genomics 2023; 50:462-472. [PMID: 37068629 DOI: 10.1016/j.jgg.2023.04.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2022] [Revised: 04/04/2023] [Accepted: 04/05/2023] [Indexed: 04/19/2023]
Abstract
Since the discovery of the first transposon by Dr. Barbara McClintock, the prevalence and diversity of transposable elements (TEs) have been gradually recognized. As fundamental genetic components, TEs drive organismal evolution not only by contributing functional sequences (e.g., regulatory elements or "controllers" as phrased by Dr. McClintock) but also by shuffling genomic sequences. In the latter respect, TE-mediated gene duplications have contributed to the origination of new genes and attracted extensive interest. In response to the development of this field, we herein attempt to provide an overview of TE-mediated duplication by focusing on common rules emerging across duplications generated by different TE types. Specifically, despite the huge divergence of transposition machinery across TEs, we identify three common features of various TE-mediated duplication mechanisms, including end bypass, template switching, and recurrent transposition. These three features lead to one common functional outcome, namely, TE-mediated duplicates tend to be subjected to exon shuffling and neofunctionalization. Therefore, the intrinsic properties of the mutational mechanism constrain the evolutionary trajectories of these duplicates. We finally discuss the future of this field including an in-depth characterization of both the duplication mechanisms and functions of TE-mediated duplicates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huijing Ma
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution & State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Mengxia Wang
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution & State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Yong E Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution & State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650223, China; Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing 102206, China.
| | - Shengjun Tan
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution & State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
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21
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Peng J, Zhao L. The origin and structural evolution of de novo genes in Drosophila. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.03.13.532420. [PMID: 37425675 PMCID: PMC10326970 DOI: 10.1101/2023.03.13.532420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/11/2023]
Abstract
Although previously thought to be unlikely, recent studies have shown that de novo gene origination from previously non-genic sequences is a relatively common mechanism for gene innovation in many species and taxa. These young genes provide a unique set of candidates to study the structural and functional origination of proteins. However, our understanding of their protein structures and how these structures originate and evolve are still limited, due to a lack of systematic studies. Here, we combined high-quality base-level whole genome alignments, bioinformatic analysis, and computational structure modeling to study the origination, evolution, and protein structure of lineage-specific de novo genes. We identified 555 de novo gene candidates in D. melanogaster that originated within the Drosophilinae lineage. We found a gradual shift in sequence composition, evolutionary rates, and expression patterns with their gene ages, which indicates possible gradual shifts or adaptations of their functions. Surprisingly, we found little overall protein structural changes for de novo genes in the Drosophilinae lineage. Using Alphafold2, ESMFold, and molecular dynamics, we identified a number of de novo gene candidates with protein products that are potentially well-folded, many of which are more likely to contain transmembrane and signal proteins compared to other annotated protein-coding genes. Using ancestral sequence reconstruction, we found that most potentially well-folded proteins are often born folded. Interestingly, we observed one case where disordered ancestral proteins become ordered within a relatively short evolutionary time. Single-cell RNA-seq analysis in testis showed that although most de novo genes are enriched in spermatocytes, several young de novo genes are biased in the early spermatogenesis stage, indicating potentially important but less emphasized roles of early germline cells in the de novo gene origination in testis. This study provides a systematic overview of the origin, evolution, and structural changes of Drosophilinae-specific de novo genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junhui Peng
- Laboratory of Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Li Zhao
- Laboratory of Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
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22
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Zheng Y, Mao B, Wang Q, Duan X, Chen MY, Shen W, Li C, Wang YF. Quantitative proteomics and phosphoproteomics reveal insights into mechanisms of ocnus function in Drosophila testis development. BMC Genomics 2023; 24:283. [PMID: 37237333 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-023-09386-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2022] [Accepted: 05/17/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Testis is the only organ supporting sperm production and with the largest number of proteins and tissue-specific proteins in animals. In our previous studies, we have found that knockdown of ocnus (ocn), a testis-specific gene, resulted in much smaller testis with no germ cells in Drosophila melanogaster. However, the molecular consequences of ocn knockdown in fly testes are unknown. RESULTS In this study, through iTRAQ quantitative proteomics sequencing, 606 proteins were identified from fly abdomens as having a significant and at least a 1.5-fold change in expression after ocn knockdown in fly testes, of which 85 were up-regulated and 521 were down-regulated. Among the differential expressed proteins (DEPs), apart from those proteins involved in spermatogenesis, the others extensively affected biological processes of generation of precursor metabolites and energy, metabolic process, and mitochondrial transport. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) analyses of DEPs showed that several kinases and/or phosphatases interacted with Ocn. Re-analyses of the transcriptome revealed 150 differential expressed genes (DEGs) appeared in the DEPs, and their changing trends in expressions after ocn knockdown were consistent. Many common down-regulated DEGs and DEPs were testis-specific or highly expressed in the testis of D. melanogaster. Quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) confirmed 12 genes appeared in both DEGs and DEPs were significantly down-regulated after ocn knockdown in fly testes. Furthermore, 153 differentially expressed phosphoproteins (DEPPs), including 72 up-regulated and 94 down-regulated phosphorylated proteins were also identified (13 phosphoproteins appeared in both up- and down-regulated groups due to having multiple phosphorylation sites). In addition to those DEPPs associated with spermatogenesis, the other DEPPs were enriched in actin filament-based process, protein folding, and mesoderm development. Some DEPs and DEPPs were involved in Notch, JAK/STAT, and cell death pathways. CONCLUSIONS Given the drastic effect of the ocn knockdown on tissue development and testis cells composition, the differences in protein abundance in the ocn knockdown flies might not necessarily be the direct result of differential gene regulation due to the inactivation of ocn. Nevertheless, our results suggest that the expression of ocn is essential for Drosophila testis development and that its down-regulation disturbs key signaling pathways related to cell survival and differentiation. These DEPs and DEPPs identified may provide significant candidate set for future studies on the mechanism of male reproduction of animals, including humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ya Zheng
- School of Life Sciences, Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, P. R. China
| | - Bin Mao
- School of Life Sciences, Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, P. R. China
| | - Qian Wang
- School of Life Sciences, Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, P. R. China
| | - Xin Duan
- School of Life Sciences, Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, P. R. China
| | - Meng-Yan Chen
- School of Life Sciences, Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, P. R. China
| | - Wei Shen
- School of Life Sciences, Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, P. R. China
| | - Chao Li
- School of Life Sciences, Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, P. R. China
| | - Yu-Feng Wang
- School of Life Sciences, Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, P. R. China.
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23
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Cridland JM, Contino CE, Begun DJ. Selection and geography shape male reproductive tract transcriptomes in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics 2023; 224:iyad034. [PMID: 36869688 PMCID: PMC10474930 DOI: 10.1093/genetics/iyad034] [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: 01/25/2023] [Revised: 01/25/2023] [Accepted: 02/20/2023] [Indexed: 03/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Transcriptome analysis of several animal clades suggests that male reproductive tract gene expression evolves quickly. However, the factors influencing the abundance and distribution of within-species variation, the ultimate source of interspecific divergence, are poorly known. Drosophila melanogaster, an ancestrally African species that has recently spread throughout the world and colonized the Americas in the last roughly 100 years, exhibits phenotypic and genetic latitudinal clines on multiple continents, consistent with a role for spatially varying selection in shaping its biology. Nevertheless, geographic expression variation in the Americas is poorly described, as is its relationship to African expression variation. Here, we investigate these issues through the analysis of two male reproductive tissue transcriptomes [testis and accessory gland (AG)] in samples from Maine (USA), Panama, and Zambia. We find dramatic differences between these tissues in differential expression between Maine and Panama, with the accessory glands exhibiting abundant expression differentiation and the testis exhibiting very little. Latitudinal expression differentiation appears to be influenced by the selection of Panama expression phenotypes. While the testis shows little latitudinal expression differentiation, it exhibits much greater differentiation than the accessory gland in Zambia vs American population comparisons. Expression differentiation for both tissues is non-randomly distributed across the genome on a chromosome arm scale. Interspecific expression divergence between D. melanogaster and D. simulans is discordant with rates of differentiation between D. melanogaster populations. Strongly heterogeneous expression differentiation across tissues and timescales suggests a complex evolutionary process involving major temporal changes in the way selection influences expression evolution in these organs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie M Cridland
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Colin E Contino
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - David J Begun
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
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24
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Evolution and implications of de novo genes in humans. Nat Ecol Evol 2023:10.1038/s41559-023-02014-y. [PMID: 36928843 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02014-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2022] [Accepted: 02/06/2023] [Indexed: 03/18/2023]
Abstract
Genes and translated open reading frames (ORFs) that emerged de novo from previously non-coding sequences provide species with opportunities for adaptation. When aberrantly activated, some human-specific de novo genes and ORFs have disease-promoting properties-for instance, driving tumour growth. Thousands of putative de novo coding sequences have been described in humans, but we still do not know what fraction of those ORFs has readily acquired a function. Here, we discuss the challenges and controversies surrounding the detection, mechanisms of origin, annotation, validation and characterization of de novo genes and ORFs. Through manual curation of literature and databases, we provide a thorough table with most de novo genes reported for humans to date. We re-evaluate each locus by tracing the enabling mutations and list proposed disease associations, protein characteristics and supporting evidence for translation and protein detection. This work will support future explorations of de novo genes and ORFs in humans.
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25
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Yu J, Li Z, Fu Y, Sun F, Chen X, Huang Q, He L, Yu H, Ji L, Cheng X, Shi Y, Shen C, Zheng B, Sun F. Single-cell RNA-sequencing reveals the transcriptional landscape of ND-42 mediated spermatid elongation via mitochondrial derivative maintenance in Drosophila testes. Redox Biol 2023; 62:102671. [PMID: 36933391 PMCID: PMC10036812 DOI: 10.1016/j.redox.2023.102671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2022] [Revised: 03/10/2023] [Accepted: 03/13/2023] [Indexed: 03/17/2023] Open
Abstract
During spermatogenesis, mitochondria extend along the whole length of spermatid tail and offer a structural platform for microtubule reorganization and synchronized spermatid individualization, that eventually helps to generate mature sperm in Drosophila. However, the regulatory mechanism of spermatid mitochondria during elongation remains largely unknown. Herein, we demonstrated that NADH dehydrogenase (ubiquinone) 42 kDa subunit (ND-42) was essential for male fertility and spermatid elongation in Drosophila. Moreover, ND-42 depletion led to mitochondrial disorders in Drosophila testes. Based on single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq), we identified 15 distinct cell clusters, including several unanticipated transitional subpopulations or differentiative stages for testicular germ cell complexity in Drosophila testes. Enrichments of the transcriptional regulatory network in the late-stage cell populations revealed key roles of ND-42 in mitochondria and its related biological processes during spermatid elongation. Notably, we demonstrated that ND-42 depletion led to maintenance defects of the major mitochondrial derivative and the minor mitochondrial derivative by affecting mitochondrial membrane potential and mitochondrial-encoded genes. Our study proposes a novel regulatory mechanism of ND-42 for spermatid mitochondrial derivative maintenance, contributing to a better understanding of spermatid elongation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun Yu
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, China.
| | - Zhiran Li
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, China
| | - Yangbo Fu
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, China
| | - Feiteng Sun
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, China
| | - Xia Chen
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Affiliated Hospital 2 of Nantong University and First People's Hospital of Nantong City, Nantong, Jiangsu, 226001, China
| | - Qiuru Huang
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, China
| | - Lei He
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, China
| | - Hao Yu
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, China
| | - Li Ji
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, China
| | - Xinmeng Cheng
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, China
| | - Yi Shi
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, China
| | - Cong Shen
- State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Center for Reproduction and Genetics, Suzhou Municipal Hospital, The Affiliated Suzhou Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Gusu School, Nanjing Medical University, Suzhou, 215002, China
| | - Bo Zheng
- State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Center for Reproduction and Genetics, Suzhou Municipal Hospital, The Affiliated Suzhou Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Gusu School, Nanjing Medical University, Suzhou, 215002, China.
| | - Fei Sun
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, China.
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26
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Yu J, Fu Y, Li Z, Huang Q, Tang J, Sun C, Zhou P, He L, Sun F, Cheng X, Ji L, Yu H, Shi Y, Gu Z, Sun F, Zhao X. Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals cell landscape following antimony exposure during spermatogenesis in Drosophila testes. Cell Death Discov 2023; 9:86. [PMID: 36894529 PMCID: PMC9998446 DOI: 10.1038/s41420-023-01391-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2022] [Revised: 02/23/2023] [Accepted: 02/28/2023] [Indexed: 03/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Antimony (Sb), is thought to induce testicular toxicity, although this remains controversial. This study investigated the effects of Sb exposure during spermatogenesis in the Drosophila testis and the underlying transcriptional regulatory mechanism at single-cell resolution. Firstly, we found that flies exposed to Sb for 10 days led to dose-dependent reproductive toxicity during spermatogenesis. Protein expression and RNA levels were measured by immunofluorescence and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) was performed to characterize testicular cell composition and identify the transcriptional regulatory network after Sb exposure in Drosophila testes. scRNA-seq analysis revealed that Sb exposure influenced various testicular cell populations, especially in GSCs_to_Early_Spermatogonia and Spermatids clusters. Importantly, carbon metabolism was involved in GSCs/early spermatogonia maintenance and positively related with SCP-Containing Proteins, S-LAPs, and Mst84D signatures. Moreover, Seminal Fluid Proteins, Mst57D, and Serpin signatures were highly positively correlated with spermatid maturation. Pseudotime trajectory analysis revealed three novel states for the complexity of germ cell differentiation, and many novel genes (e.g., Dup98B) were found to be expressed in state-biased manners during spermatogenesis. Collectively, this study indicates that Sb exposure negatively impacts GSC maintenance and spermatid elongation, damaging spermatogenesis homeostasis via multiple signatures in Drosophila testes and therefore supporting Sb-mediated testicular toxicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun Yu
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, China
| | - Yangbo Fu
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, China
| | - Zhiran Li
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, China
| | - Qiuru Huang
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, China
| | - Juan Tang
- Department of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Toxicology, Nantong Key Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology, School of Public Health, Nantong University, Nantong, 226019, China
| | - Chi Sun
- Department of Geriatrics, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, China
| | - Peiyao Zhou
- Department of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Toxicology, Nantong Key Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology, School of Public Health, Nantong University, Nantong, 226019, China
| | - Lei He
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, China
| | - Feiteng Sun
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, China
| | - Xinmeng Cheng
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, China
| | - Li Ji
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, China
| | - Hao Yu
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, China
| | - Yi Shi
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, China
| | - Zhifeng Gu
- Department of Rheumatology, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, China.
| | - Fei Sun
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong University, Nantong, 226001, China.
| | - Xinyuan Zhao
- Department of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Toxicology, Nantong Key Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology, School of Public Health, Nantong University, Nantong, 226019, China.
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27
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Transcriptional and mutational signatures of the Drosophila ageing germline. Nat Ecol Evol 2023; 7:440-449. [PMID: 36635344 PMCID: PMC10291629 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-022-01958-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2021] [Accepted: 11/24/2022] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
Ageing is a complex biological process that is accompanied by changes in gene expression and mutational load. In many species, including humans, older fathers pass on more paternally derived de novo mutations; however, the cellular basis and cell types driving this pattern are still unclear. To explore the root causes of this phenomenon, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing on testes from young and old male Drosophila and genomic sequencing (DNA sequencing) on somatic tissues from the same flies. We found that early germ cells from old and young flies enter spermatogenesis with similar mutational loads but older flies are less able to remove mutations during spermatogenesis. Mutations in old cells may also increase during spermatogenesis. Our data reveal that old and young flies have distinct mutational biases. Many classes of genes show increased postmeiotic expression in the germlines of older flies. Late spermatogenesis-biased genes have higher dN/dS (ratio of non-synonymous to synonymous substitutions) than early spermatogenesis-biased genes, supporting the hypothesis that late spermatogenesis is a source of evolutionary innovation. Surprisingly, genes biased in young germ cells show higher dN/dS than genes biased in old germ cells. Our results provide new insights into the role of the germline in de novo mutation.
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28
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Raz AA, Vida GS, Stern SR, Mahadevaraju S, Fingerhut JM, Viveiros JM, Pal S, Grey JR, Grace MR, Berry CW, Li H, Janssens J, Saelens W, Shao Z, Hu C, Yamashita YM, Przytycka T, Oliver B, Brill JA, Krause H, Matunis EL, White-Cooper H, DiNardo S, Fuller MT. Emergent dynamics of adult stem cell lineages from single nucleus and single cell RNA-Seq of Drosophila testes. eLife 2023; 12:e82201. [PMID: 36795469 PMCID: PMC9934865 DOI: 10.7554/elife.82201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2022] [Accepted: 01/19/2023] [Indexed: 02/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Proper differentiation of sperm from germline stem cells, essential for production of the next generation, requires dramatic changes in gene expression that drive remodeling of almost all cellular components, from chromatin to organelles to cell shape itself. Here, we provide a single nucleus and single cell RNA-seq resource covering all of spermatogenesis in Drosophila starting from in-depth analysis of adult testis single nucleus RNA-seq (snRNA-seq) data from the Fly Cell Atlas (FCA) study. With over 44,000 nuclei and 6000 cells analyzed, the data provide identification of rare cell types, mapping of intermediate steps in differentiation, and the potential to identify new factors impacting fertility or controlling differentiation of germline and supporting somatic cells. We justify assignment of key germline and somatic cell types using combinations of known markers, in situ hybridization, and analysis of extant protein traps. Comparison of single cell and single nucleus datasets proved particularly revealing of dynamic developmental transitions in germline differentiation. To complement the web-based portals for data analysis hosted by the FCA, we provide datasets compatible with commonly used software such as Seurat and Monocle. The foundation provided here will enable communities studying spermatogenesis to interrogate the datasets to identify candidate genes to test for function in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amelie A Raz
- Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteCambridgeUnited States
| | - Gabriela S Vida
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, The Perelman School of Medicine and The Penn Institute for Regenerative MedicinePhiladelphiaUnited States
| | - Sarah R Stern
- Department of Developmental Biology, Stanford University School of MedicineStanfordUnited States
| | - Sharvani Mahadevaraju
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of HealthBethesdaUnited States
| | - Jaclyn M Fingerhut
- Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteCambridgeUnited States
| | - Jennifer M Viveiros
- Department of Cell Biology, Johns Hopkins University School of MedicineBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Soumitra Pal
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of HealthBethesdaUnited States
| | - Jasmine R Grey
- Department of Cell Biology, Johns Hopkins University School of MedicineBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Mara R Grace
- Department of Cell Biology, Johns Hopkins University School of MedicineBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Cameron W Berry
- Department of Developmental Biology, Stanford University School of MedicineStanfordUnited States
| | - Hongjie Li
- Huffington Center on Aging and Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of MedicineHoustonUnited States
| | - Jasper Janssens
- JVIB Center for Brain & Disease Research, and the Department of Human Genetics, KU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Wouter Saelens
- Data Mining and Modeling for Biomedicine, VIB Center for Inflammation Research, and Department of Applied Mathematics, Computer Science and Statistics, Ghent UniversityGhentBelgium
| | - Zhantao Shao
- Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, University of TorontoTorontoCanada
| | - Chun Hu
- Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, University of TorontoTorontoCanada
| | - Yukiko M Yamashita
- Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Howard Hughes Medical InstituteCambridgeUnited States
| | - Teresa Przytycka
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of HealthBethesdaUnited States
| | - Brian Oliver
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of HealthBethesdaUnited States
| | - Julie A Brill
- Cell Biology Program, The Hospital for Sick ChildrenTorontoCanada
- Department of Molecular Genetics, University of TorontoTorontoCanada
- Institute of Medical Science, University of TorontoTorontoCanada
| | - Henry Krause
- Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, University of TorontoTorontoCanada
- Department of Molecular Genetics, University of TorontoTorontoCanada
| | - Erika L Matunis
- Department of Cell Biology, Johns Hopkins University School of MedicineBaltimoreUnited States
| | | | - Stephen DiNardo
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, The Perelman School of Medicine and The Penn Institute for Regenerative MedicinePhiladelphiaUnited States
| | - Margaret T Fuller
- Department of Developmental Biology, Stanford University School of MedicineStanfordUnited States
- Department of Genetics, Stanford UniversityStanfordUnited States
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29
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RpS3 Is Required for Spermatogenesis of Drosophila melanogaster. Cells 2023; 12:cells12040573. [PMID: 36831240 PMCID: PMC9954509 DOI: 10.3390/cells12040573] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2022] [Revised: 02/03/2023] [Accepted: 02/08/2023] [Indexed: 02/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Ribosomal proteins (RPs) constitute the ribosome, thus participating in the protein biosynthesis process. Emerging studies have suggested that many RPs exhibit different expression levels across various tissues and function in a context-dependent manner for animal development. Drosophila melanogaster RpS3 encodes the ribosomal protein S3, one component of the 40S subunit of ribosomes. We found that RpS3 is highly expressed in the reproductive organs of adult flies and its depletion in male germline cells led to severe defects in sperm production and male fertility. Immunofluorescence staining showed that RpS3 knockdown had little effect on early germ cell differentiation, but strongly disrupted the spermatid elongation and individualization processes. Furthermore, we observed abnormal morphology and activity of mitochondrial derivatives in the elongating spermatids of RpS3-knockdown testes, which could cause the failure of axoneme elongation. We also found that RpS3 RNAi inhibited the formation of the individualization complex that takes charge of disassociating the spermatid bundle. In addition, excessive apoptotic cells were detected in the RpS3-knockdown testes, possibly to clean the defective spermatids. Together, our data demonstrated that RpS3 plays an important role in regulating spermatid elongation and individualization processes and, therefore, is required for normal Drosophila spermatogenesis.
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30
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Dou W, Sun B, Miao Y, Huang D, Xiao J. Single-cell transcriptome sequencing reveals Wolbachia-mediated modification in early stages of Drosophila spermatogenesis. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20221963. [PMID: 36629101 PMCID: PMC9832550 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1963] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2022] [Accepted: 12/13/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Wolbachia are the most widely distributed intracellular bacteria, and their most common effect on host phenotype is cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI). A variety of models have been proposed to decipher the molecular mechanism of CI, among which the host modification (HM) model predicts that Wolbachia effectors play an important role in sperm modification. However, owing to the complexity of spermatogenesis and testicular cell-type heterogeneity, whether Wolbachia have different effects on cells at different stages of spermatogenesis or whether these effects are linked with CI remains unknown. Therefore, we used single-cell RNA sequencing to analyse gene expression profiles in adult male Drosophila testes that were infected or uninfected by Wolbachia. We found that Wolbachia significantly affected the proportion of different types of germ cells and affected multiple metabolic pathways in germ cells. Most importantly, Wolbachia had the greatest impact on germline stem cells, resulting in dysregulated expression of genes related to DNA compaction, and Wolbachia infection also influenced the histone-to-protamine transition in the late stage of sperm development. These results support the HM model and suggest that future studies on Wolbachia-induced CI should focus on cells in the early stages of spermatogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weihao Dou
- College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, People's Republic of China
| | - Baofa Sun
- College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, People's Republic of China
| | - Yunheng Miao
- College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, People's Republic of China
| | - Dawei Huang
- College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, People's Republic of China
| | - Jinhua Xiao
- College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, People's Republic of China
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31
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Ridwan SM, Antel M, Inaba M. Enrichment of Undifferentiated Germline and Somatic Cells from Drosophila Testes. Methods Mol Biol 2023; 2677:127-138. [PMID: 37464239 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3259-8_7] [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] [Indexed: 07/20/2023]
Abstract
The Drosophila male germline provides a strong model system to understand numerous developmental and cell-biological processes, owing to a well-defined anatomy and cell type markers in combination with various genetic tools available for the Drosophila system. A major weakness of this system has been the difficulty of approaches for obtaining material for biochemical assays, proteomics, and genomic or transcriptomic profiling due to small-size and complex tissues. However, the recent development of techniques has started allowing us the usage of a low amount of material for these analyses and now we can strategize many new experiments. The method for enrichment or isolation of rare populations of cells is still challenging and should meaningfully influence the reliability of the results. Here, we provide our semi-optimized protocol of enrichment of undifferentiated germ cells and somatic cells from non-tumorous Drosophila testis, which we have successfully improved after multiple trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sharif M Ridwan
- Department of Cell Biology, University of Connecticut Health, Farmington, CT, USA
| | - Matthew Antel
- Department of Cell Biology, University of Connecticut Health, Farmington, CT, USA
| | - Mayu Inaba
- Department of Cell Biology, University of Connecticut Health, Farmington, CT, USA.
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32
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Liu X, Zhang T, Tan Z, Warden AR, Li S, Cheung E, Ding X. A Hashing-Based Framework for Enhancing Cluster Delineation of High-Dimensional Single-Cell Profiles. PHENOMICS (CHAM, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 2:323-335. [PMID: 36939755 PMCID: PMC9590516 DOI: 10.1007/s43657-022-00056-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2022] [Revised: 04/08/2022] [Accepted: 04/15/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Although many methods have been developed to explore the function of cells by clustering high-dimensional (HD) single-cell omics data, the inconspicuously differential expressions of biomarkers of proteins or genes across all cells disturb the cell cluster delineation and downstream analysis. Here, we introduce a hashing-based framework to improve the delineation of cell clusters, which is based on the hypothesis that one variable with no significant differences can be decomposed into more diversely latent variables to distinguish cells. By projecting the original data into a sparse HD space, fly and densefly hashing preprocessing retain the local structure of data, and improve the cluster delineation of existing clustering methods, such as PhenoGraph. Moreover, the analyses on mass cytometry dataset show that our hashing-based framework manages to unveil new hidden heterogeneities in cell clusters. The proposed framework promotes the utilization of cell biomarkers and enriches the biological findings by introducing more latent variables. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43657-022-00056-z.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao Liu
- Institute of Personalized Medicine, School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200030 China
| | - Ting Zhang
- Institute of Personalized Medicine, School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200030 China
| | - Ziyang Tan
- Institute of Personalized Medicine, School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200030 China
| | - Antony R. Warden
- Institute of Personalized Medicine, School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200030 China
| | - Shanhe Li
- Institute of Personalized Medicine, School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200030 China
| | - Edwin Cheung
- Cancer Centre, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Taipa, 999078 China
- Centre of Precision Medicine Research and Training, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Taipa, 999078 China
| | - Xianting Ding
- Institute of Personalized Medicine, School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200030 China
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33
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Lee S, Chen YC, Gillen AE, Taliaferro JM, Deplancke B, Li H, Lai EC. Diverse cell-specific patterns of alternative polyadenylation in Drosophila. Nat Commun 2022; 13:5372. [PMID: 36100597 PMCID: PMC9470587 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-32305-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2022] [Accepted: 07/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Most genes in higher eukaryotes express isoforms with distinct 3' untranslated regions (3' UTRs), generated by alternative polyadenylation (APA). Since 3' UTRs are predominant locations of post-transcriptional regulation, APA can render such programs conditional, and can also alter protein sequences via alternative last exon (ALE) isoforms. We previously used 3'-sequencing from diverse Drosophila samples to define multiple tissue-specific APA landscapes. Here, we exploit comprehensive single nucleus RNA-sequencing data (Fly Cell Atlas) to elucidate cell-type expression of 3' UTRs across >250 adult Drosophila cell types. We reveal the cellular bases of multiple tissue-specific APA/ALE programs, such as 3' UTR lengthening in differentiated neurons and 3' UTR shortening in spermatocytes and spermatids. We trace dynamic 3' UTR patterns across cell lineages, including in the male germline, and discover new APA patterns in the intestinal stem cell lineage. Finally, we correlate expression of RNA binding proteins (RBPs), miRNAs and global levels of cleavage and polyadenylation (CPA) factors in several cell types that exhibit characteristic APA landscapes, yielding candidate regulators of transcriptome complexity. These analyses provide a comprehensive foundation for future investigations of mechanisms and biological impacts of alternative 3' isoforms across the major cell types of this widely-studied model organism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seungjae Lee
- Developmental Biology Program, Sloan Kettering Institute, 1275 York Ave, Box 252, New York, NY, 10065, USA
| | - Yen-Chung Chen
- Department of Biology, New York University, New York, NY, 10013, USA
| | | | - Austin E Gillen
- Division of Hematology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA.,Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center, Aurora, CO, USA.,RNA Bioscience Initiative, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - J Matthew Taliaferro
- RNA Bioscience Initiative, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA.,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - Bart Deplancke
- Laboratory of Systems Biology and Genetics, Institute of Bio-engineering & Global Health Institute, School of Life Sciences, EPFL, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Hongjie Li
- Huffington Center on Aging, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.,Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Eric C Lai
- Developmental Biology Program, Sloan Kettering Institute, 1275 York Ave, Box 252, New York, NY, 10065, USA.
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Maaroufi HO, Pauchova L, Lin YH, Wu BCH, Rouhova L, Kucerova L, Vieira LC, Renner M, Sehadova H, Hradilova M, Zurovec M. Mutation in Drosophila concentrative nucleoside transporter 1 alters spermatid maturation and mating behavior. Front Cell Dev Biol 2022; 10:945572. [PMID: 36105362 PMCID: PMC9467524 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2022.945572] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2022] [Accepted: 07/27/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Concentrative nucleoside transporters (Cnts) are unidirectional carriers that mediate the energy-costly influx of nucleosides driven by the transmembrane sodium gradient. Cnts are transmembrane proteins that share a common structural organization and are found in all phyla. Although there have been studies on Cnts from a biochemical perspective, no deep research has examined their role at the organismal level. Here, we investigated the role of the Drosophila melanogaster cnt1 gene, which is specifically expressed in the testes. We used the CRISPR/Cas9 system to generate a mutation in the cnt1 gene. The cnt1 mutants exhibited defects in the duration of copulation and spermatid maturation, which significantly impaired male fertility. The most striking effect of the cnt1 mutation in spermatid maturation was an abnormal structure of the sperm tail, in which the formation of major and minor mitochondrial derivatives was disrupted. Our results demonstrate the importance of cnt1 in male fertility and suggest that the observed defects in mating behavior and spermatogenesis are due to alterations in nucleoside transport and associated metabolic pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Houda Ouns Maaroufi
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Ceske Budejovice, Czechia
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czechia
| | - Lucie Pauchova
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Ceske Budejovice, Czechia
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czechia
| | - Yu-Hsien Lin
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Ceske Budejovice, Czechia
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czechia
| | - Bulah Chia-Hsiang Wu
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Ceske Budejovice, Czechia
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czechia
| | - Lenka Rouhova
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Ceske Budejovice, Czechia
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czechia
| | - Lucie Kucerova
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Ceske Budejovice, Czechia
| | - Ligia Cota Vieira
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Ceske Budejovice, Czechia
| | - Marek Renner
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czechia
| | - Hana Sehadova
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Ceske Budejovice, Czechia
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czechia
| | - Miluse Hradilova
- Institute of Molecular Genetics, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czechia
| | - Michal Zurovec
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, Ceske Budejovice, Czechia
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czechia
- *Correspondence: Michal Zurovec,
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35
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Chenevert M, Miller B, Karkoutli A, Rusnak A, Lott SE, Atallah J. The early embryonic transcriptome of a Hawaiian Drosophila picture-wing fly shows evidence of altered gene expression and novel gene evolution. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY. PART B, MOLECULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL EVOLUTION 2022; 338:277-291. [PMID: 35322942 DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.23129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2021] [Revised: 01/14/2022] [Accepted: 02/13/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
A massive adaptive radiation on the Hawaiian archipelago has produced approximately one-quarter of the fly species in the family Drosophilidae. The Hawaiian Drosophila clade has long been recognized as a model system for the study of both the ecology of island endemics and the evolution of developmental mechanisms, but relatively few genomic and transcriptomic datasets are available for this group. We present here a differential expression analysis of the transcriptional profiles of two highly conserved embryonic stages in the Hawaiian picture-wing fly Drosophila grimshawi. When we compared our results to previously published datasets across the family Drosophilidae, we identified cases of both gains and losses of gene representation in D. grimshawi, including an apparent delay in Hox gene activation. We also found a high expression of unannotated genes. Most transcripts of unannotated genes with open reading frames do not have identified homologs in non-Hawaiian Drosophila species, although the vast majority have sequence matches in genomes of other Hawaiian picture-wing flies. Some of these unannotated genes may have arisen from noncoding sequence in the ancestor of Hawaiian flies or during the evolution of the clade. Our results suggest that both the modified use of ancestral genes and the evolution of new ones may occur in rapid radiations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madeline Chenevert
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
- Hayward Genetics Center, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
| | - Bronwyn Miller
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
| | - Ahmad Karkoutli
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
- LSUHSC School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
| | - Anna Rusnak
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
- Center for Biomedical Engineering, Brown University, Box A-2, Arnold Lab, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
| | - Susan E Lott
- Department of Evolution & Ecology, University of California-Davis, Davis, California, USA
| | - Joel Atallah
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
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36
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Detecting signatures of selection on gene expression. Nat Ecol Evol 2022; 6:1035-1045. [PMID: 35551249 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-022-01761-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2021] [Accepted: 04/01/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
A substantial amount of phenotypic diversity results from changes in gene expression levels and patterns. Understanding how the transcriptome evolves is therefore a key priority in identifying mechanisms of adaptive change. However, in contrast to powerful models of sequence evolution, we lack a consensus model of gene expression evolution. Furthermore, recent work has shown that many of the comparative approaches used to study gene expression are subject to biases that can lead to false signatures of selection. Here we first outline the main approaches for describing expression evolution and their inherent biases. Next, we bridge the gap between the fields of phylogenetic comparative methods and transcriptomics to reinforce the main pitfalls of inferring selection on expression patterns and use simulation studies to show that shifts in tissue composition can heavily bias inferences of selection. We close by highlighting the multi-dimensional nature of transcriptional variation and identifying major unanswered questions in disentangling how selection acts on the transcriptome.
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37
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Prabh N, Rödelsperger C. Multiple Pristionchus pacificus genomes reveal distinct evolutionary dynamics between de novo candidates and duplicated genes. Genome Res 2022; 32:1315-1327. [PMID: 35618417 PMCID: PMC9341508 DOI: 10.1101/gr.276431.121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2021] [Accepted: 05/20/2022] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
The birth of new genes is a major molecular innovation driving phenotypic diversity across all domains of life. Although repurposing of existing protein-coding material by duplication is considered the main process of new gene formation, recent studies have discovered thousands of transcriptionally active sequences as a rich source of new genes. However, differential loss rates have to be assumed to reconcile the high birth rates of these incipient de novo genes with the dominance of ancient gene families in individual genomes. Here, we test this rapid turnover hypothesis in the context of the nematode model organism Pristionchus pacificus We extended the existing species-level phylogenomic framework by sequencing the genomes of six divergent P. pacificus strains. We used these data to study the evolutionary dynamics of different age classes and categories of origin at a population level. Contrasting de novo candidates with new families that arose by duplication and divergence from known genes, we find that de novo candidates are typically shorter, show less expression, and are overrepresented on the sex chromosome. Although the contribution of de novo candidates increases toward young age classes, multiple comparisons within the same age class showed significantly higher attrition in de novo candidates than in known genes. Similarly, young genes remain under weak evolutionary constraints with de novo candidates representing the fastest evolving subcategory. Altogether, this study provides empirical evidence for the rapid turnover hypothesis and highlights the importance of the evolutionary timescale when quantifying the contribution of different mechanisms toward new gene formation.
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38
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Bubnell JE, Ulbing CKS, Fernandez Begne P, Aquadro CF. Functional Divergence of the bag-of-marbles Gene in the Drosophila melanogaster Species Group. Mol Biol Evol 2022; 39:6609986. [PMID: 35714266 PMCID: PMC9250105 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msac137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
In Drosophila melanogaster, a key germline stem cell (GSC) differentiation factor, bag of marbles (bam) shows rapid bursts of amino acid fixations between sibling species D. melanogaster and Drosophila simulans, but not in the outgroup species Drosophila ananassae. Here, we test the null hypothesis that bam's differentiation function is conserved between D. melanogaster and four additional Drosophila species in the melanogaster species group spanning approximately 30 million years of divergence. Surprisingly, we demonstrate that bam is not necessary for oogenesis or spermatogenesis in Drosophila teissieri nor is bam necessary for spermatogenesis in D. ananassae. Remarkably bam function may change on a relatively short time scale. We further report tests of neutral sequence evolution at bam in additional species of Drosophila and find a positive, but not perfect, correlation between evidence for positive selection at bam and its essential role in GSC regulation and fertility for both males and females. Further characterization of bam function in more divergent lineages will be necessary to distinguish between bam's critical gametogenesis role being newly derived in D. melanogaster, D. simulans, Drosophila yakuba, and D. ananassae females or it being basal to the genus and subsequently lost in numerous lineages.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Cynthia K S Ulbing
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
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Huang Y, Shang R, Lu GA, Zeng W, Huang C, Zou C, Tang T. Spatiotemporal Regulation of a Single Adaptively Evolving Trans-Regulatory Element Contributes to Spermatogenetic Expression Divergence in Drosophila. Mol Biol Evol 2022; 39:6605656. [PMID: 35687719 PMCID: PMC9254010 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msac127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Due to extensive pleiotropy, trans-acting elements are often thought to be evolutionarily constrained. While the impact of trans-acting elements on gene expression evolution has been extensively studied, relatively little is understood about the contribution of a single trans regulator to interspecific expression and phenotypic divergence. Here, we disentangle the effects of genomic context and miR-983, an adaptively evolving young microRNA, on expression divergence between Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans. We show miR-983 effects promote interspecific expression divergence in testis despite its antagonism with the often-predominant context effects. Single-cyst RNA-seq reveals that distinct sets of genes gain and lose miR-983 influence under disruptive or diversifying selection at different stages of spermatogenesis, potentially helping minimize antagonistic pleiotropy. At the round spermatid stage, the effects of miR-983 are weak and distributed, coincident with the transcriptome undergoing drastic expression changes. Knocking out miR-983 causes reduced sperm length with increased within-individual variation in D. melanogaster but not in D. simulans, and the D. melanogaster knockout also exhibits compromised sperm defense ability. Our results provide empirical evidence for the resolution of antagonistic pleiotropy and also have broad implications for the function and evolution of new trans regulators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yumei Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, 510275 Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Rui Shang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, 510275 Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Guang-An Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, 510275 Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Weishun Zeng
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, 510275 Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Chenglong Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, 510275 Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Chuangchao Zou
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, 510275 Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Tian Tang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, 510275 Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
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Zheng B, Liu J, Shi X, Xu J, Zhang K, Zhou H, Wu T, Huang X, Shen C, Liang Y, Zhao D, Guo Y. BMI1 governs the maintenance of mouse GC-2 cells through epigenetic repression of Foxl1 transcription. Am J Transl Res 2022; 14:3407-3418. [PMID: 35702123 PMCID: PMC9185053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2022] [Accepted: 04/30/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Studies have demonstrated that B lymphoma Mo-MLV insertion region 1 (BMI1) plays an important role in male reproductive function and the regulation of spermatogonia proliferation. However, whether BMI1 exerts a similarly important function in spermatocyte development remains unclear. METHODS In this study, we investigated the role of BMI1 in spermatocyte development using a mouse spermatocyte-derived cell line (GC-2) and a Bmi1-knockout (KO) mouse model. RESULTS We demonstrated that BMI1 promoted the proliferation and inhibited the apoptosis of GC-2 cells. Mechanistically, we presented in vitro and in vivo evidence showing that BMI1 binds to the promoter region of the forkhead box L1 (Foxl1) gene, sequentially driving chromatin remodeling and gene silencing. BMI1, which functions as a classical polycomb protein, was found to direct the transcriptional repression of Foxl1 through increasing the H2AK119ub level and reducing that of H3K4me3 in the promoter region of Foxl1. Our results further indicated that the knockdown of Foxl1 expression significantly enhanced cell proliferation via activating β-catenin signaling in BMI1-deficient GC-2 cells. CONCLUSIONS Collectively, our study revealed for the first time the existence of an epigenetic mechanism involving BMI1-mediated gene silencing in GC-2 cells development and provided potential targets for the treatment of male infertility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo Zheng
- State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Center for Reproduction and Genetics, Suzhou Municipal Hospital, The Affiliated Suzhou Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Gusu School, Nanjing Medical UniversitySuzhou 215002, Jiangsu, China
| | - Juanjuan Liu
- Reproductive Medicine Center, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow UniversitySuzhou 215004, Jiangsu, China
| | - Xiaodan Shi
- Department of Reproduction, The Affiliated Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital with Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care HospitalNanjing 210004, Jiangsu, China
| | - Jinfu Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Department of Histology and Embryology, Nanjing Medical UniversityNanjing 211166, Jiangsu, China
| | - Ke Zhang
- Department of Urology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow UniversitySuzhou 215004, Jiangsu, China
| | - Hui Zhou
- Human Reproductive and Genetic Center, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan UniversityWuxi 214122, Jiangsu, China
| | - Tiantian Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Department of Histology and Embryology, Nanjing Medical UniversityNanjing 211166, Jiangsu, China
| | - Xiaoyan Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Department of Histology and Embryology, Nanjing Medical UniversityNanjing 211166, Jiangsu, China
| | - Cong Shen
- State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Center for Reproduction and Genetics, Suzhou Municipal Hospital, The Affiliated Suzhou Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Gusu School, Nanjing Medical UniversitySuzhou 215002, Jiangsu, China
| | - Yuting Liang
- Center for Clinical Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow UniversitySuzhou 215006, Jiangsu, China
| | - Dan Zhao
- Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu UniversityZhenjiang 212008, Jiangsu, China
| | - Yueshuai Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Department of Histology and Embryology, Nanjing Medical UniversityNanjing 211166, Jiangsu, China
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41
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The evolution of gene regulation on sex chromosomes. Trends Genet 2022; 38:844-855. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tig.2022.04.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2021] [Revised: 04/07/2022] [Accepted: 04/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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42
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Wang M, Hu Q, Lv T, Wang Y, Lan Q, Xiang R, Tu Z, Wei Y, Han K, Shi C, Guo J, Liu C, Yang T, Du W, An Y, Cheng M, Xu J, Lu H, Li W, Zhang S, Chen A, Chen W, Li Y, Wang X, Xu X, Hu Y, Liu L. High-resolution 3D spatiotemporal transcriptomic maps of developing Drosophila embryos and larvae. Dev Cell 2022; 57:1271-1283.e4. [PMID: 35512700 DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2022.04.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2021] [Revised: 01/26/2022] [Accepted: 04/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Drosophila has long been a successful model organism in multiple biomedical fields. Spatial gene expression patterns are critical for the understanding of complex pathways and interactions, whereas temporal gene expression changes are vital for studying highly dynamic physiological activities. Systematic studies in Drosophila are still impeded by the lack of spatiotemporal transcriptomic information. Here, utilizing spatial enhanced resolution omics-sequencing (Stereo-seq), we dissected the spatiotemporal transcriptomic changes of developing Drosophila with high resolution and sensitivity. We demonstrated that Stereo-seq data can be used for the 3D reconstruction of the spatial transcriptomes of Drosophila embryos and larvae. With these 3D models, we identified functional subregions in embryonic and larval midguts, uncovered spatial cell state dynamics of larval testis, and revealed known and potential regulons of transcription factors within their topographic background. Our data provide the Drosophila research community with useful resources of organism-wide spatiotemporally resolved transcriptomic information across developmental stages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingyue Wang
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Gene Regulation and Systems Biology, School of Life Sciences, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China; Department of Biology, School of Life Sciences, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Qinan Hu
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Gene Regulation and Systems Biology, School of Life Sciences, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China; Department of Biology, School of Life Sciences, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China; Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518005, China
| | - Tianhang Lv
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China; College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Yuhang Wang
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China; School of Biology and Biological Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Qing Lan
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
| | | | - Zhencheng Tu
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China; College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Yanrong Wei
- BGI College & Henan Institute of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450000, China
| | - Kai Han
- BGI-Qingdao, BGI-Shenzhen, Qingdao 266555, China
| | - Chang Shi
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
| | - Junfu Guo
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
| | - Chao Liu
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
| | - Tao Yang
- China National Gene Bank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518120, China
| | - Wensi Du
- China National Gene Bank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518120, China
| | - Yanru An
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
| | - Mengnan Cheng
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China; College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Jiangshan Xu
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China; College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Haorong Lu
- China National Gene Bank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518120, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Genome Read and Write, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518120, China
| | - Wangsheng Li
- China National Gene Bank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518120, China
| | - Shaofang Zhang
- China National Gene Bank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518120, China
| | - Ao Chen
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
| | - Wei Chen
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Gene Regulation and Systems Biology, School of Life Sciences, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China; Department of Biology, School of Life Sciences, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | | | | | - Xun Xu
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China.
| | - Yuhui Hu
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Gene Regulation and Systems Biology, School of Life Sciences, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China; Department of Biology, School of Life Sciences, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China; Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518005, China.
| | - Longqi Liu
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Single-Cell Omics, Shenzhen 518083, China.
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43
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Qian P, Kang J, Liu D, Xie G. Single Cell Transcriptome Sequencing of Zebrafish Testis Revealed Novel Spermatogenesis Marker Genes and Stronger Leydig-Germ Cell Paracrine Interactions. Front Genet 2022; 13:851719. [PMID: 35360857 PMCID: PMC8961980 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2022.851719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2022] [Accepted: 01/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Spermatogenesis in testis is an important process for sexual reproduction, and worldwide about 10-15 percent of couples suffer from infertility. It is of importance to study spermatogenesis at single cell level in both of human and model organisms. Currently, single-cell RNA sequencing technologies (scRNA-seq) had been extensively applied to the study of cellular components and its gene regulations in the testes of different species, including human, monkey, mouse, and fly, but not in zebrafish. Zebrafish was a widely used model organism in biology and had been extensively used for the study of spermatogenesis in the previous studies. Therefore, it is also important to profile the transcriptome of zebrafish testis at single cell level. In this study, the transcriptomes of 14, 315 single cells from adult male zebrafish testes were profiled by scRNA-seq, and 10 cell populations were revealed, including Leydig cell, Sertoli cell, spermatogonia cell (SPG), spermatocyte, and spermatids. Notably, thousands of cell-type specific novel marker genes were identified, including sumo3b for SPG, krt18a.1 for Sertoli cells, larp1b and edrf1 for spermatids, which were also validated by RNA in situ hybridization experiments. Interestingly, through Ligand-Receptor (LR) analyses, zebrafish Leydig cells demonstrated stronger paracrine influence on germ cells than Sertoli cells. Overall, this study could be an important resource for the study of spermatogenesis in zebrafish and might also facilitate the study of the genes associated with human infertility through using zebrafish as a model organism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peipei Qian
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School, Nantong University, Nantong, China
| | - Jiahui Kang
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School, Nantong University, Nantong, China
| | - Dong Liu
- School of Life Sciences, Key Laboratory of Neuroregeneration of Jiangsu and Ministry of Education, Co-innovation Center of Neuroregeneration, Nantong University, Nantong, China
| | - Gangcai Xie
- Institute of Reproductive Medicine, Medical School, Nantong University, Nantong, China
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44
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Cridland JM, Majane AC, Zhao L, Begun DJ. Population biology of accessory gland-expressed de novo genes in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics 2022; 220:iyab207. [PMID: 34791207 PMCID: PMC8733444 DOI: 10.1093/genetics/iyab207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2021] [Accepted: 11/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Early work on de novo gene discovery in Drosophila was consistent with the idea that many such genes have male-biased patterns of expression, including a large number expressed in the testis. However, there has been little formal analysis of variation in the abundance and properties of de novo genes expressed in different tissues. Here, we investigate the population biology of recently evolved de novo genes expressed in the Drosophila melanogaster accessory gland, a somatic male tissue that plays an important role in male and female fertility and the post mating response of females, using the same collection of inbred lines used previously to identify testis-expressed de novo genes, thus allowing for direct cross tissue comparisons of these genes in two tissues of male reproduction. Using RNA-seq data, we identify candidate de novo genes located in annotated intergenic and intronic sequence and determine the properties of these genes including chromosomal location, expression, abundance, and coding capacity. Generally, we find major differences between the tissues in terms of gene abundance and expression, though other properties such as transcript length and chromosomal distribution are more similar. We also explore differences between regulatory mechanisms of de novo genes in the two tissues and how such differences may interact with selection to produce differences in D. melanogaster de novo genes expressed in the two tissues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie M Cridland
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Alex C Majane
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Li Zhao
- Laboratory of Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - David J Begun
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
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45
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Yousefian S, Musillo MJ, Bageritz J. Analysis of Single-Cell Transcriptome Data in Drosophila. Methods Mol Biol 2022; 2540:93-111. [PMID: 35980574 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2541-5_4] [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] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The fly Drosophila is a versatile model organism that has led to fascinating biological discoveries. In the past few years, Drosophila researchers have used single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) to gain insights into the cellular composition, and developmental processes of various tissues and organs. Given the success of single-cell technologies a variety of computational tools and software packages were developed to enable and facilitate the analysis of scRNA-seq data. In this book chapter we want to give guidance on analyzing droplet-based scRNA-seq data from Drosophila. We will initially describe the preprocessing commonly done for Drosophila, point out possible downstream analyses, and finally highlight computational methods developed using Drosophila scRNA-seq data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Schayan Yousefian
- Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Charité-Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany
- Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association, Berlin, Germany
| | - Maria Jelena Musillo
- Centre for Organismal Studies Heidelberg (COS), Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Josephine Bageritz
- Centre for Organismal Studies Heidelberg (COS), Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
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46
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Lawlor MA, Cao W, Ellison CE. A transposon expression burst accompanies the activation of Y-chromosome fertility genes during Drosophila spermatogenesis. Nat Commun 2021; 12:6854. [PMID: 34824217 PMCID: PMC8617248 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-27136-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2021] [Accepted: 11/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Transposable elements (TEs) must replicate in germline cells to pass novel insertions to offspring. In Drosophila melanogaster ovaries, TEs can exploit specific developmental windows of opportunity to evade host silencing and increase their copy numbers. However, TE activity and host silencing in the distinct cell types of Drosophila testis are not well understood. Here, we reanalyze publicly available single-cell RNA-seq datasets to quantify TE expression in the distinct cell types of the Drosophila testis. We develop a method for identification of TE and host gene expression modules and find that a distinct population of early spermatocytes expresses a large number of TEs at much higher levels than other germline and somatic components of the testes. This burst of TE expression coincides with the activation of Y chromosome fertility factors and spermatocyte-specific transcriptional regulators, as well as downregulation of many components of the piRNA pathway. The TEs expressed by this cell population are specifically enriched on the Y chromosome and depleted on the X chromosome, relative to other active TEs. These data suggest that some TEs may achieve high insertional activity in males by exploiting a window of opportunity for mobilization created by the activation of spermatocyte-specific and Y chromosome-specific transcriptional programs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew A Lawlor
- Department of Genetics, Human Genetics Institute of New Jersey, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
| | - Weihuan Cao
- Department of Genetics, Human Genetics Institute of New Jersey, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
| | - Christopher E Ellison
- Department of Genetics, Human Genetics Institute of New Jersey, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA.
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47
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Su Q, He H, Zhou Q. On the Origin and Evolution of Drosophila New Genes during Spermatogenesis. Genes (Basel) 2021; 12:1796. [PMID: 34828402 PMCID: PMC8621406 DOI: 10.3390/genes12111796] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2021] [Revised: 11/09/2021] [Accepted: 11/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
The origin of functional new genes is a basic biological process that has significant contribution to organismal diversity. Previous studies in both Drosophila and mammals showed that new genes tend to be expressed in testes and avoid the X chromosome, presumably because of meiotic sex chromosome inactivation (MSCI). Here, we analyze the published single-cell transcriptome data of Drosophila adult testis and find an enrichment of male germline mitotic genes, but an underrepresentation of meiotic genes on the X chromosome. This can be attributed to an excess of autosomal meiotic genes that were derived from their X-linked mitotic progenitors, which provides direct cell-level evidence for MSCI in Drosophila. We reveal that new genes, particularly those produced by retrotransposition, tend to exhibit an expression shift toward late spermatogenesis compared with their parental copies, probably due to the more intensive sperm competition or sexual conflict. Our results dissect the complex factors including age, the origination mechanisms and the chromosomal locations that influence the new gene origination and evolution in testes, and identify new gene cases that show divergent cell-level expression patterns from their progenitors for future functional studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qianwei Su
- The MOE Key Laboratory of Biosystems Homeostasis & Protection and Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory for Cancer Molecular Cell Biology, Life Sciences Institute, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; (Q.S.); (H.H.)
| | - Huangyi He
- The MOE Key Laboratory of Biosystems Homeostasis & Protection and Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory for Cancer Molecular Cell Biology, Life Sciences Institute, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; (Q.S.); (H.H.)
| | - Qi Zhou
- The MOE Key Laboratory of Biosystems Homeostasis & Protection and Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory for Cancer Molecular Cell Biology, Life Sciences Institute, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; (Q.S.); (H.H.)
- Department of Neuroscience and Developmental Biology, University of Vienna, 1030 Vienna, Austria
- Center for Reproductive Medicine, The 2nd Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310052, China
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48
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Xia S, Ventura IM, Blaha A, Sgromo A, Han S, Izaurralde E, Long M. Rapid Gene evolution in an ancient post-transcriptional and translational regulatory system compensates for meiotic X chromosomal inactivation. Mol Biol Evol 2021; 39:6385248. [PMID: 34626117 PMCID: PMC8763131 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msab296] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
It is conventionally assumed that conserved pathways evolve slowly with little participation of gene evolution. Nevertheless, it has been recently observed that young genes can take over fundamental functions in essential biological processes, for example, development and reproduction. It is unclear how newly duplicated genes are integrated into ancestral networks and reshape the conserved pathways of important functions. Here, we investigated origination and function of two autosomal genes that evolved recently in Drosophila: Poseidon and Zeus, which were created by RNA-based duplications from the X-linked CAF40, a subunit of the conserved CCR4–NOT deadenylase complex involved in posttranscriptional and translational regulation. Knockdown and knockout assays show that the two genes quickly evolved critically important functions in viability and male fertility. Moreover, our transcriptome analysis demonstrates that the three genes have a broad and distinct effect in the expression of hundreds of genes, with almost half of the differentially expressed genes being perturbed exclusively by one paralog, but not the others. Co-immunoprecipitation and tethering assays show that the CAF40 paralog Poseidon maintains the ability to interact with the CCR4–NOT deadenylase complex and might act in posttranscriptional mRNA regulation. The rapid gene evolution in the ancient posttranscriptional and translational regulatory system may be driven by evolution of sex chromosomes to compensate for the meiotic X chromosomal inactivation (MXCI) in Drosophila.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shengqian Xia
- Department of Ecology & Evolution, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Iuri M Ventura
- Department of Ecology & Evolution, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.,CAPES Foundation, Ministry of Education of Brazil, Brasília, DF, 70040-020, Brazil
| | - Andreas Blaha
- Department of Biochemistry, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Annamaria Sgromo
- Department of Biochemistry, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Shuaibo Han
- Department of Ecology & Evolution, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Elisa Izaurralde
- Department of Biochemistry, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Manyuan Long
- Department of Ecology & Evolution, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
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49
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Rivard EL, Ludwig AG, Patel PH, Grandchamp A, Arnold SE, Berger A, Scott EM, Kelly BJ, Mascha GC, Bornberg-Bauer E, Findlay GD. A putative de novo evolved gene required for spermatid chromatin condensation in Drosophila melanogaster. PLoS Genet 2021; 17:e1009787. [PMID: 34478447 PMCID: PMC8445463 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1009787] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2021] [Revised: 09/16/2021] [Accepted: 08/19/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Comparative genomics has enabled the identification of genes that potentially evolved de novo from non-coding sequences. Many such genes are expressed in male reproductive tissues, but their functions remain poorly understood. To address this, we conducted a functional genetic screen of over 40 putative de novo genes with testis-enriched expression in Drosophila melanogaster and identified one gene, atlas, required for male fertility. Detailed genetic and cytological analyses showed that atlas is required for proper chromatin condensation during the final stages of spermatogenesis. Atlas protein is expressed in spermatid nuclei and facilitates the transition from histone- to protamine-based chromatin packaging. Complementary evolutionary analyses revealed the complex evolutionary history of atlas. The protein-coding portion of the gene likely arose at the base of the Drosophila genus on the X chromosome but was unlikely to be essential, as it was then lost in several independent lineages. Within the last ~15 million years, however, the gene moved to an autosome, where it fused with a conserved non-coding RNA and evolved a non-redundant role in male fertility. Altogether, this study provides insight into the integration of novel genes into biological processes, the links between genomic innovation and functional evolution, and the genetic control of a fundamental developmental process, gametogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily L. Rivard
- College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Andrew G. Ludwig
- College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Prajal H. Patel
- College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | | | - Sarah E. Arnold
- College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | | | - Emilie M. Scott
- College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Brendan J. Kelly
- College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Grace C. Mascha
- College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Erich Bornberg-Bauer
- University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Geoffrey D. Findlay
- College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America
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50
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Li H. Single-cell RNA sequencing in Drosophila: Technologies and applications. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY 2021; 10:e396. [PMID: 32940008 PMCID: PMC7960577 DOI: 10.1002/wdev.396] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2020] [Revised: 08/09/2020] [Accepted: 08/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) has emerged as a powerful tool for investigating cell states and functions at the single-cell level. It has greatly revolutionized transcriptomic studies in many life science research fields, such as neurobiology, immunology, and developmental biology. With the fast development of both experimental platforms and bioinformatics approaches over the past decade, scRNA-seq is becoming economically feasible and experimentally practical for many biomedical laboratories. Drosophila has served as an excellent model organism for dissecting cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie tissue development, adult cell function, disease, and aging. The recent application of scRNA-seq methods to Drosophila tissues has led to a number of exciting discoveries. In this review, I will provide a summary of recent scRNA-seq studies in Drosophila, focusing on technical approaches and biological applications. I will also discuss current challenges and future opportunities of making new discoveries using scRNA-seq in Drosophila. This article is categorized under: Technologies > Analysis of the Transcriptome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongjie Li
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
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