Open AccessCombover interacts with the axonemal component Rsp3 and is required for sperm individualization
Author(s) -
Josefa Steinhauer,
Benjamin Statman,
Jeremy K. Fagan,
Jacob J. Borck,
Satya Surabhi,
Prathibha Yarikipati,
Daniel C. Edelman,
Andreas Jenny
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.754
H-Index - 325
eISSN - 1477-9129
pISSN - 0950-1991
DOI - 10.1242/dev.179275
Subject(s) - biology , flagellum , sperm , microbiology and biotechnology , spermatid , axoneme , drosophila melanogaster , gene knockdown , gamete , cytoplasm , ciliogenesis , actin , effector , genetics , gene , cilium
Gamete formation is key to survival of higher organisms. In male animals, spermatogenesis gives rise to interconnected spermatids that differentiate and individualize into mature sperm, each tightly enclosed by a plasma membrane. In Drosophila melanogaster, individualization of sister spermatids requires the formation of specialized actin cones that synchronously move along the sperm tails, removing inter-spermatid bridges and most of the cytoplasm. Here we show that Combover (Cmb), originally identified as an effector of Planar Cell Polarity (PCP) under control of Rho kinase, is essential for sperm individualization. cmb mutants are male sterile, with actin cones that fail to synchronously move along the flagella, despite being correctly formed and polarized initially. These defects are germline autonomous, independent of PCP genes, and can be rescued by wild-type Cmb, but not by a version of Cmb in which known Rho kinase phosphorylation sites are mutated. Furthermore, Cmb binds to the axonemal component Radial spoke protein 3, knockdown of which causes similar individualization defects, suggesting that Cmb coordinates the individualization machinery with the microtubular axoneme.