scholarly journals Niche maintenance of germline stem cells in C. elegans males

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah L. Crittenden ◽  
ChangHwan Lee ◽  
Ipsita Mohanty ◽  
Sindhu Battula ◽  
Judith Kimble

ABSTRACTStem cell maintenance by niche signaling is a common theme across phylogeny. In the Caenorhabditis elegans gonad, the broad outlines of germline stem cell (GSC) regulation are the same for both sexes: GLP-1/Notch signaling from the mesenchymal Distal Tip Cell (DTC) niche maintains GSCs in the distal gonad of both sexes (Austin and Kimble 1987), and does so via two key stem cell regulators, SYGL-1 and LST-1 (Kershneret al. 2014). Most analyses of niche signaling and GSC regulation have focused on XX hermaphrodites, an essentially female sex making sperm in larvae and oocytes in adults. Here we focus on XO males, which are sexually dimorphic in all tissues, including the distal gonad. The architecture of the male niche and the cellular behavior of GSCs are sex-specific. Despite these differences, males maintain a GSC pool similar to the hermaphrodite with respect to size and cell number and the male GSC response to niche signaling is also remarkably similar.

Development ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 126 (9) ◽  
pp. 1833-1844 ◽  
Author(s):  
F.J. King ◽  
H. Lin

Drosophila oogenesis starts when a germline stem cell divides asymmetrically to generate a daughter germline stem cell and a cystoblast that will develop into a mature egg. We show that the fs(1)Yb gene is essential for the maintenance of germline stem cells during oogenesis. We delineate fs(1)Yb within a 6.4 kb genomic region by transgenic rescue experiments. fs(1)Yb encodes a 4.1 kb RNA that is present in the third instar larval, pupal and adult stages, consistent with its role in regulating germline stem cells during oogenesis. Germline clonal analysis shows that all fs(1)Yb mutations are soma-dependent. In the adult ovary, fs(1)Yb is specifically expressed in the terminal filament cells, suggesting that fs(1)Yb acts in these signaling cells to maintain germline stem cells. fs(1)Yb encodes a novel hydrophilic protein with no potential signal peptide or transmembrane domains, suggesting that this protein is not itself a signal but a key component of the signaling machinery for germline stem cell maintenance.


Development ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 141 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. R. Shields ◽  
A. C. Spence ◽  
Y. M. Yamashita ◽  
E. L. Davies ◽  
M. T. Fuller

Development ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 145 (23) ◽  
pp. dev170639 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ferenc Jankovics ◽  
Melinda Bence ◽  
Rita Sinka ◽  
Anikó Faragó ◽  
László Bodai ◽  
...  

PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. e0243756
Author(s):  
Tianlu Ma ◽  
Shinya Matsuoka ◽  
Daniela Drummond-Barbosa

Reproduction is highly sensitive to changes in physiology and the external environment. Neuropeptides are evolutionarily conserved signaling molecules that regulate multiple physiological processes. However, the potential reproductive roles of many neuropeptide signaling pathways remain underexplored. Here, we describe the results of RNAi-based screens in Drosophila melanogaster to identify neuropeptides/neuropeptide receptors with potential roles in oogenesis. The screen read-outs were either the number of eggs laid per female per day over time or fluorescence microscopy analysis of dissected ovaries. We found that the orphan neuropeptide receptor encoded by moody (homologous to mammalian melatonin receptors) is likely required in somatic cells for normal egg production and proper germline stem cell maintenance. However, the egg laying screens had low signal-to-noise ratio and did not lead to the identification of additional candidates. Thus, although egg count assays might be useful for large-scale screens to identify oogenesis regulators that result in dramatic changes in oogenesis, more labor-intensive microscopy-based screen are better applicable for identifying new physiological regulators of oogenesis with more subtle phenotypes.


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