RNA-binding protein Maca is crucial for gigantic male fertility factor gene expression, spermatogenesis, and male fertility, in Drosophila.

ABSTRACT: During spermatogenesis, the process in which sperm for fertilization are produced from germline cells, gene expression is spatiotemporally highly regulated. In Drosophila, successful expression of extremely large male fertility factor genes on Y-chromosome spanning some megabases due to their gigantic intron sizes is crucial for spermatogenesis. Expression of such extremely large genes must be challenging, but the molecular mechanism that allows it remains unknown. Here we report that a novel RNA-binding protein Maca, which contains two RNA-recognition motifs, is crucial for this process. maca null mutant male flies exhibited a failure in the spermatid individualization process during spermatogenesis, lacked mature sperm, and were completely sterile, while maca mutant female flies were ful

SUBMITTER: Zhu L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8248703 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature