Elimination of Y chromosome-bearing spermatids during spermiogenesis in an autosomal <i>sex-ratio</i> mutant of <i>Drosophila simulans</i>
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- Yasuno Yusaku
- Drosophila Genetic Resource Center, Kyoto Institute of Technology
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- Inoue Yoshihiro H.
- Drosophila Genetic Resource Center, Kyoto Institute of Technology
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- Yamamoto Masa-Toshi
- Drosophila Genetic Resource Center, Kyoto Institute of Technology
Bibliographic Information
- Other Title
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- Elimination of Y chromosome-bearing spermatids during spermiogenesis in an autosomal sex-ratio mutant of Drosophila simulans
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Description
Sex ratio distortion, which is commonly abbreviated as sex-ratio, has been studied in many Drosophila species, but the mechanism remains largely unknown. Here, we report on the sex-ratio mutant of D. simulans named excess of females (exf). The third chromosomal recessive mutation results in a sex ratio of approximately 0.2 or less (males/total). Cytological observation demonstrated that meiosis appeared to be completed normally, but that most Y chromosome-bearing nuclei failed to elongate during spermiogenesis, as revealed by fluorescence in situ hybridization using sex chromosome-specific probes. These aberrant nuclei contained membranous inclusions as revealed by electron microscopic analysis. Most of the aberrant exf spermatids failed to individualize and mature, suggesting that a later stage of spermiogenesis is involved in prevention of production of sperm with abnormal morphology. On the one hand, in exf seminal vesicles, sperm nuclei with a length of 5–8.5 μm were occasionally observed, in addition to those with wild-type sperm dimensions, that is, a length of approximately 10 μm. Thus, spermatids with less severe nuclear defects can escape elimination and be released into the seminal vesicles as mature sperm. Furthermore, we constructed His2AvD-GFP and ProtamineB-eGFP transgenic lines in D. simulans, and examined the processes involved in replacement of chromatin proteins over a time course, according to nuclear morphology. We found that both normal and abnormal sperm heads demonstrated equal chromatin replacement during late spermiogenesis. Our results suggest that exf belongs to a unique class of meiotic drive systems in that (1) intranuclear membranous inclusions cause failure of nuclear shaping of Y-bearing spermatids without affecting the histone-protamine transition, and (2) a portion of the aberrant spermatids differentiate into mature sperm; these are transferred to and stored by females.
Journal
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- Genes & Genetic Systems
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Genes & Genetic Systems 88 (2), 113-126, 2013
The Genetics Society of Japan
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Keywords
Details 詳細情報について
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- CRID
- 1390282680450978688
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- NII Article ID
- 10031183177
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- NII Book ID
- AA11077421
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- COI
- 1:STN:280:DC%2BC3sjosl2nsg%3D%3D
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- ISSN
- 18805779
- 13417568
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- NDL BIB ID
- 024638579
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- PubMed
- 23832303
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- Text Lang
- en
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- Data Source
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- JaLC
- NDL
- Crossref
- PubMed
- CiNii Articles
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- Abstract License Flag
- Disallowed