Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 24, 2026

Single Nucleotide Polymorphism-sensitive FISH Detection of Locus-specific Ribosomal RNA Transcription in Drosophila melanogaster
04:59

Single Nucleotide Polymorphism-sensitive FISH Detection of Locus-specific Ribosomal RNA Transcription in Drosophila melanogaster

Published on: March 28, 2025

Conserved properties of Drosophila and human spermatozoal mRNA repertoires

Bettina E Fischer1, Elizabeth Wasbrough, Lisa A Meadows

  • 1Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EH, UK.

Proceedings. Biological Sciences
|March 2, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Spermatozoa transfer mRNA to oocytes, a conserved feature across species. This study reveals functional similarities between human and fruit fly sperm mRNA, particularly ribosomal proteins, enabling further research.

Area of Science:

  • Reproductive Biology
  • Developmental Biology
  • Molecular Genetics

Background:

  • Mature mammalian spermatozoa contain mRNA, but its function post-fertilization is largely unknown.
  • The evolutionary conservation of sperm-borne mRNA is poorly understood.
  • Investigating sperm mRNA in non-mammalian models can offer insights into conserved biological functions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the evolutionary conservation of sperm-borne mRNA by analyzing mature fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) sperm.
  • To determine if sperm mRNA is transferred to the oocyte during fertilization in Drosophila.
  • To compare the functional annotations of sperm mRNA between Drosophila and humans.

Main Methods:

  • Isolation and purification of mature Drosophila melanogaster sperm.
  • Analysis of mRNA populations within purified sperm.
  • Use of tagged transcripts to track mRNA transfer during fertilization.
  • Bioinformatic analysis of functional annotations for conserved transcripts.

Main Results:

  • Enriched populations of mRNA molecules were identified in mature Drosophila sperm, distinct from somatic or immature cell contamination.
  • Tagged spermatozoal mRNAs were successfully transferred to the oocyte at fertilization and detected until zygotic gene activation.
  • Significant functional conservation was observed between Drosophila and human sperm mRNAs, notably enrichment for ribosomal protein transcripts.

Conclusions:

  • Sperm-borne mRNA transfer to the oocyte is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism.
  • Drosophila melanogaster serves as a powerful genetic model to study the function of sperm mRNA.
  • The conserved enrichment of ribosomal protein transcripts suggests a critical role in early embryonic development.

More Related Videos

Maintenance of a Drosophila melanogaster Population Cage08:03

Maintenance of a Drosophila melanogaster Population Cage

Published on: March 15, 2016

Chromatin Immunoprecipitation (ChIP) using Drosophila tissue13:47

Chromatin Immunoprecipitation (ChIP) using Drosophila tissue

Published on: March 23, 2012

Related Concept Videos

Multi-species Conserved Sequences02:51

Multi-species Conserved Sequences

Next-generation sequencing technologies have created large genomic databases of a variety of animals and plants. Ever since the human genome project was completed, scientists studied the genome of primates, mammals, and other phylogenetically distant living beings. Such large-scale  studies have provided new insights into the evolutionary relationship between organisms.
Although the genome of each species varies greatly from each other, a few sequences are highly conserved. Such conserved DNA...
Conservation of Protein Domains Over Different Proteins02:26

Conservation of Protein Domains Over Different Proteins

Protein domains are small structurally independent units that are part of a single amino acid chain.  Although these domains are often structurally independent, they may rely on synergistic effects to perform their functions as part of a larger protein. Protein domains may be conserved within the same organism, as well as across different organisms.
A limited set of protein domains often duplicate and recombine during evolution. These domains can be organized in different combinations to form...
The Ratio of X Chromosome to Autosomes02:45

The Ratio of X Chromosome to Autosomes

In most organisms, sex is determined by the ratio of X and Y chromosomes. However, in some organisms, such as Drosophila and C.elegans, sex is determined by the ratio of the number of X chromosomes to the number of sets of autosomes. The Y chromosome in Drosophila is active but does not determine sex. It contains genes responsible for the production of sperms in adult flies.  
Normal male Drosophila has a ratio of one X chromosome to two sets of autosomes. In contrast, normal female Drosophila...
Exon Recombination02:32

Exon Recombination

The evolution of new genes is critical for speciation. Exon recombination, also known as exon shuffling or domain shuffling, is an important means of new gene formation. It is observed across vertebrates, invertebrates, and in some plants such as potatoes and sunflowers. During exon recombination, exons from the same or different genes recombine and produce new exon-intron combinations, which might evolve into new genes. 
Exon shuffling follows “splice frame rules.” Each exon has three reading...
Position-effect Variegation02:32

Position-effect Variegation

In 1928, a German botanist Emil Heitz observed the moss nuclei with a DNA binding dye. He observed that while some chromatin regions decondense and spread out in the interphase nucleus, others do not. He termed them euchromatin and heterochromatin, respectively. He proposed that the heterochromatin regions reflect a functionally inactive state of the genome. It was later confirmed that heterochromatin is transcriptionally repressed, and euchromatin is transcriptionally active chromatin.
Conserved Binding Sites01:49

Conserved Binding Sites

Many proteins’ biological role depends on their interactions with their ligands, small molecules that bind to specific locations on the protein known as ligand-binding sites. Ligand-binding sites are often conserved among homologous proteins as these sites are critical for protein function.
Binding sites are often located in large pockets, and if their location on a protein’s surface is unknown, it can be predicted using various approaches. The energetic method computationally analyses the...