Work

Female-germline specific protein Sakura interacts with Otu and is crucial for germline stem cell renewal and differentiation and oogenesis

Year: 2024

Type: preprint

Abstract: During oogenesis, self-renewal and differentiation of germline stem cells (GSCs) must be tightly regulated. The Drosophila female germline serves as an excellent model for studying these regulatory mechanisms. Here, we report that a previously uncharacterized gene CG14545 , which we named sakura , is essential for oogenesis and female fertility in Drosophila . Sakura is predominantly expressed in the ovaries, particularly in the germline cells, including GSCs. sakura null mutant female flies display rudimentary ovaries with germline-less and tumorous phenotypes, fail to produce eggs, and are completely sterile. The germline-specific depletion of sakura impairs Dpp/BMP signaling, leading to aberrant bag-of-marbles ( bam ) expression, resulting in faulty differentiation and loss of GSCs. sakura is also necessary for normal levels of piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) levels and for female-specific splicing of sex-lethal ( sxl ), a master regulator of sex identity determination. We identified Ovarian Tumor (Otu) as a protein binding partner of Sakura and found that loss of otu phenocopies loss of sakura in ovaries. Thus, we identify Sakura as a crucial factor for GSC renewal and differentiation and oogenesis, and propose that Sakura and Otu function together in these processes.

Source: eLife

DOI: 10.7554/elife.103828

Authors: Azali Azlan, Li Zhu, Ryuya Fukunaga

Institutions: Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Language: English

Topic: Reproductive Biology and Fertility

Subfield: Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,500

Funders: Johns Hopkins University, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases