Xu Yang, Dongbin Chen, Shirui Zheng, Meiyan Yi, Shanshan Wang, Yongjian Liu, Lianyan Jing, Zulian Liu, Dehong Yang, Yujia Liu, Linmeng Tang, James R Walters, Yongping Huang
In lepidopteran insects, dichotomous spermatogenesis produces eupyrene spermatozoa, which are nucleated, and apyrene spermatozoa, which are anucleated. Both sperm morphs are essential for fertilization, as eupyrene sperm fertilize the egg, and apyrene sperm is necessary for the migration of eupyrene sperm. In Drosophila, Prmt5 acts as a type II arginine methyltransferase that catalyzes the symmetrical dimethylation of arginine residues in the RNA helicase Vasa. Prmt5 is critical for the regulation of spermatogenesis, but Vasa is not...
January 12, 2023: PLoS Genetics