Reproduction Abstracts

Despite being transcriptionally silent,¹ mature spermatozoa contain small amounts of RNA comprising various classes and although, de novo translation of spermatozoal RNA has been demonstrated,² the role of these RNAs is currently unclear. However, looking across species boundaries and comparing the RNA profiles of sperm from a number of mammals may give insights into their function in the process of reproduction, including potentially post-fertilisation requirements.³

High resolution RNA profiling by next-generation RNA sequencing (NGS) can provide information on the historical record of gene activity during spermatogenesis and can offer insights into functional aspects of sperm RNA in both spermatogenesis and potentially in embryogenesis.^4,5

This study aims to compare RNAs from bovine, ovine, porcine, and human spermatozoa alongside corresponding samples of testis tissue. Following NGS, comparisons are being made by bioinformatic analysis aimed at the identification of shared gene expression networks that are indicative of conserved functionality across the tested species and sperm RNAs that are unique to or are highly elevated in sperm compared with testis. The focus initially, relies on analysis of mRNAs and long non-coding RNAs and their roles in both spermatogenesis and fertilisation.

References: 1. Grunewald et al. Andrologia 37 69–71, 2005.

2. Gur & Breitbart. Genes Develop 20 411–416, 2006.

3. Sendler et al. Nucleic Acids Res 41 4104–4117, 2013.

4. Card et al. Biol Reprod. 88(2) 49, 2013.

5. Lalancette et al. Biol Reprod 78(4) 618–635, 2008.