Expressional and functional analysis of the male‐specific cluster mst36F during Drosophila spermatogenesis

Abstract

mst36Fa and mst36Fb are two male-specific genes that are part of a novel gene family recently characterized in Drosophila melanogaster. The genes are strictly clustered and show an identical tissue and temporal expression pattern limited to the male germline. Here we demonstrate that the transcription of these two genes, which is triggered by different cis regulatory elements, responds to the same testisspecific factors encoded by the aly and can class meiotic arrest genes. RNA interference was used to decrease expression of these two genes. We obtained a reduction of fertility in the transgenic adult males compared to the wild type. These data suggest that the Mst36Fa and Mst36Fb proteins may have an important role in the production of functional sperm.

Tissue, cell type and stage-specific ectopic gene expression and RNAi induction in the Drosophila testis

“…In other labs the utility of bam -Gal4-VP16 and other drivers in spermatocyte RNAi has been variable. Di Cara et al (2010) used a variety of drivers to express Mst36F RNAi transgenes, and were able to induce a reduction in fertility but far from complete knockdown of the target gene expression 73 . A highly penetrant cytokinesis defect in male meiosis was induced using bam -Gal4VP16 and UAS- anillin RNAi, 38 however the same lab have not had such success with other UAS-RNAi lines (Julie Brill, pers.…”