A transposon expression burst accompanies the activation of Y-chromosome fertility genes during Drosophila spermatogenesis.

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

SUBMITTER: Lawlor MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8617248 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature