Characterization of DeY1, a novel Y-box gene specifically expressed in differentiating male germ cells of planarians

Salvetti, Alessandra; Lena, Alessia; Rossi, Leonardo; Deri, Paolo; Cecchettini, Antonella; Batistoni, Renata; Gremigni, Vittorio

doi:10.1016/s1567-133x(02)00063-7

Cited by 24 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 15 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Although some genes expressed in the reproductive organs have been identified from several different planarian species (21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26), mechanistic studies are lacking. The planarian Schmidtea mediterranea provides several advantages as a model for studying epigenetic germ cell specification.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The planarian Schmidtea mediterranea as a model for epigenetic germ cell specification: Analysis of ESTs from the hermaphroditic strain

Zayas

Hernández

Habermann

et al. 2005

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

144

177

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Freshwater planarians have prodigious regenerative abilities that enable them to form complete organisms from tiny body fragments. This plasticity is also exhibited by the planarian germ cell lineage. Unlike many model organisms in which germ cells are specified by localized determinants, planarian germ cells appear to be specified epigenetically, arising postembryonically from stem cells. The planarian Schmidtea mediterranea is well suited for investigating the mechanisms underlying epigenetic germ cell specification. Two strains of S. mediterranea exist: a hermaphroditic strain that reproduces sexually and an asexual strain that reproduces by means of transverse fission. To date, expressed sequence tags (ESTs) have been generated only from the asexual strain. To develop molecular reagents for studying epigenetic germ cell specification, we have sequenced 27,161 ESTs from two developmental stages of the hermaphroditic strain of S. mediterranea ; this collection of ESTs represents ≈10,000 unique transcripts. blast analysis of the assembled ESTs showed that 66% share similarity to sequences in public databases. We annotated the assembled ESTs using Gene Ontology terms as well as conserved protein domains and organized them in a relational database. To validate experimentally the Gene Ontology annotations, we used whole-mount in situ hybridization to examine the expression patterns of transcripts assigned to the biological process “reproduction.” Of the 53 genes in this category, 87% were expressed in the reproductive organs. In addition to its utility for studying germ cell development, this EST collection will be an important resource for annotating the planarian genome and studying this animal's amazing regenerative abilities.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The planarian Schmidtea mediterranea as a model for epigenetic germ cell specification: Analysis of ESTs from the hermaphroditic strain

Zayas

Hernández

Habermann

et al. 2005

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

144

177

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Molecular cloning involves an α-tubulin gene in Schmidtea polychroa as SpTub-1 (AF516884) and a partial α-tubulin cDNA in Schmidtea mediterranea (AF112360). SpTub-1 is a testis-specific tubulin isoform and is expressed in spermatogonia, spermatocytes and spermatids (Salvetti et al, 2002, Simoncelli, et al, 2003, while the α-tubulin in S. mediterranea is expressed in the epithelium but not in testes (Sanchez and Newmark, 1999). The expression pattern of SpTub-1 is very similar to that of Drs3, but using the Clustal W program to analyze the differences between Drs3 and other α-tubulins, the sequence similarity with the α-tubulin in S. mediterranea is only 45.71%.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of novel genes expressed specifically in the sexual organs of the planarian Dugesia ryukyuensis

Hase

Kashiwagi²,

Kobayashi

et al. 2007

Int. J. Dev. Biol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The planarian Dugesia ryukyuensis reproduces both asexually (fissiparous) and sexually (oviparous) and can switch from the asexual mode to the sexual mode. By feeding with mature Bdellocephala brunnea oviparous worms, the fissiparous worms, which do not possess sexual organs, can be converted to fully sexualized worms in a process termed sexualization. As sexualization proceeds, the sexual organs are formed uniformly and five stages (stages 1-5) of the process have been identified histologically. In order to clarify the sexualization process, we attempted to isolate the genes expressed specifically at stage 5 by the differential display method. We isolated five genes expressed in the testis and two genes expressed in the yolk gland, which is an organ specific to sexualized worms. By BLAST search, one of the testis-specific genes was coded as testis-specific α α α α α-tubulin and two yolk gland-specific genes are similar to ribosephosphate pyrophosphokinase I and F-box/SPRY-domain protein 1. Drs1, Drs2 and Drs3 were expressed in spermatocytes and spermatids from the early stage of spermatogenesis and Drs4 and Drs5 were expressed in spermatogonia, spermatocytes and spermatids. These genes are useful markers for elucidating the sexualization process.

show abstract

“…In planarians, two Y-box proteins have been cloned (Salvetti et al, 1998(Salvetti et al, , 2002. One of them, DeY1, is detected in the nucleus of spermatogonia and in both the nucleus and the cytoplasm of spermatocytes at the electron microscopic level (Salvetti et al, 2002).…”

Section: Djcbc-1 In Germline Cellsmentioning

confidence: 99%

DjCBC‐1, a conserved DEAD box RNA helicase of the RCK/p54/Me31B family, is a component of RNA‐protein complexes in planarian stem cells and neurons

Yoshida-Kashikawa¹,

Shibata

Takechi³

et al. 2007

Developmental Dynamics

115

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The stem cells of planarians, known as neoblasts, can give rise to all cell types in planarians. Neoblasts can be identified by electron microscopy as cells with electron-dense chromatoid bodies, which are large RNP (ribonucleoprotein) complexes, in their cytoplasm. However, the components and function of chromatoid bodies are still relatively unknown. Here we identified a DEAD box RNA helicase gene of the RCK/p54/Me31B family from a planarian EST database and showed the localization of its product in chromatoid bodies by immunoelectron microscopy. We named this gene Djcbc-1 (Dugesia japonica chromatoid body component 1). Djcbc-1 was also strongly expressed in the brain and in the germline stem cells of sexualized planarians. We observed chromatoid body-like electron-dense bodies in brain neurons, where DjCBC-1 was also expressed. These observations suggest that common molecular components of RNP complexes may be involved in the regulation of somatic and germline stem cells, and neurons in planarians. Developmental Dynamics 236:3436 -3450, 2007.

show abstract

Characterization of DeY1, a novel Y-box gene specifically expressed in differentiating male germ cells of planarians

Cited by 24 publications

References 15 publications

The planarian Schmidtea mediterranea as a model for epigenetic germ cell specification: Analysis of ESTs from the hermaphroditic strain

The planarian Schmidtea mediterranea as a model for epigenetic germ cell specification: Analysis of ESTs from the hermaphroditic strain

Characterization of novel genes expressed specifically in the sexual organs of the planarian Dugesia ryukyuensis

DjCBC‐1, a conserved DEAD box RNA helicase of the RCK/p54/Me31B family, is a component of RNA‐protein complexes in planarian stem cells and neurons

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About