QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

First published online 4 July 2007
doi: 10.1242/dev.003517

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplementary Material All Versions of this Article: dev.003517v1 134/15/2851    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in Development Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Franklin-Dumont, T. M. Articles by DiNardo, S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Franklin-Dumont, T. M. Articles by DiNardo, S. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

A novel eIF4G homolog, Off-schedule, couples translational control to meiosis and differentiation in Drosophila spermatocytes

¹ Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6048, USA.
² Section of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla 92093, USA.

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: sdinardo{at}mail.med.upenn.edu)

Accepted 2 June 2007

During spermatogenesis, cells coordinate differentiation with the meiotic cell cycle to generate functional gametes. We identified a novel gene, which we named off-schedule (ofs), as being essential for this coordinated control. During the meiotic G₂ phase, Drosophila ofs mutant germ cells do not reach their proper size and fail to execute meiosis or significant differentiation. The accumulation of four cell cycle regulators-Cyclin A, Boule, Twine and Roughex-is altered in these mutants, indicating that ofs reveals a novel branch of the pathway controlling meiosis and differentiation. Ofs is homologous to eukaryotic translation initiation factor eIF4G. The level of ofs expression in spermatocytes is much higher than for the known eIF4G ortholog (known as eIF-4G or eIF4G), suggesting that Ofs substitutes for this protein. Consistent with this, assays for association with mRNA cap complexes, as well as RNA-interference and phenotypic-rescue experiments, demonstrate that Ofs has eIF4G activity. Based on these studies, we speculate that spermatocytes monitor G₂ growth as one means to coordinate the initiation of meiotic division and differentiation.

Key words: Spermatogenesis, Meiosis, Cell cycle, Differentiation, Translation initiation, eIF4G, Drosophila

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

Related articles in Development:

Spermatogenesis: lost in translational control

Development 2007 134: e1505. [Full Text]  

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. A. Henderson, E. Cronland, S. Dunkelbarger, V. Contreras, S. Strome, and B. D. Keiper A germline-specific isoform of eIF4E (IFE-1) is required for efficient translation of stored mRNAs and maturation of both oocytes and sperm J. Cell Sci., May 15, 2009; 122(10): 1529 - 1539. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. M. Mikhaylova, K. Nguyen, and D. I. Nurminsky Analysis of the Drosophila melanogaster Testes Transcriptome Reveals Coordinate Regulation of Paralogous Genes Genetics, May 1, 2008; 179(1): 305 - 315. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F. Ramirez-Valle, S. Braunstein, J. Zavadil, S. C. Formenti, and R. J. Schneider eIF4GI links nutrient sensing by mTOR to cell proliferation and inhibition of autophagy J. Cell Biol., April 21, 2008; 181(2): 293 - 307. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. C. Baker and M. T. Fuller Translational control of meiotic cell cycle progression and spermatid differentiation in male germ cells by a novel eIF4G homolog Development, August 1, 2007; 134(15): 2863 - 2869. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]