Single-cell profiling of Anopheles gambiae spermatogenesis defines the onset of meiotic silencing and premeiotic overexpression of the X chromosome

Page, Nicole, Taxiarchi, Chrysanthi, Tonge, Daniel, Kuburic, Jasmina, Chesters, Emily, Kriezis, Antonios, Kyrou, Kyros, Game, Laurence, Nolan, Tony ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2982-8333 and Galizi, Roberto (2023) 'Single-cell profiling of Anopheles gambiae spermatogenesis defines the onset of meiotic silencing and premeiotic overexpression of the X chromosome'. Communications Biology, Vol 6, Issue 1, e850.

Preview

Text 42003_2023_Article_5224.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

Understanding development and genetic regulation in the Anopheles gambiae germline is essential to engineer effective genetic control strategies targeting this malaria mosquito vector. These include targeting the germline to induce sterility or using regulatory sequences to drive transgene expression for applications such as gene drive. However, only very few germline-specific regulatory elements have been characterised with the majority showing leaky expression. This has been shown to considerably reduce the efficiency of current genetic control strategies, which rely on regulatory elements with more tightly restricted spatial and/or temporal expression. Meiotic silencing of the sex chromosomes limits the flexibility of transgene expression to develop effective sex-linked genetic control strategies. Here, we build on our previous study, dissecting gametogenesis into four distinct cell populations, using single-cell RNA sequencing to define eight distinct cell clusters and associated germline cell–types using available marker genes. We reveal overexpression of X-linked genes in a distinct cluster of pre-meiotic cells and document the onset of meiotic silencing of the X chromosome in a subcluster of cells in the latter stages of spermatogenesis. This study provides a comprehensive dataset, characterising the expression of distinct cell types through spermatogenesis and widening the toolkit for genetic control of malaria mosquitoes.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	QX Parasitology > Insects. Other Parasites > QX 510 Mosquitoes QX Parasitology > Insects. Other Parasites > QX 515 Anopheles WC Communicable Diseases > Tropical and Parasitic Diseases > WC 750 Malaria
Faculty: Department:	Biological Sciences > Vector Biology Department
Digital Object Identifer (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-05224-z
SWORD Depositor:	JISC Pubrouter
Depositing User:	JISC Pubrouter
Date Deposited:	17 Aug 2023 13:46
Last Modified:	17 Aug 2023 13:46
URI:	https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/22964

Statistics

View details

Actions (login required)

Edit Item