The evolutionarily conserved gene, Fam114a2, is dispensable for fertility in mouse

Family with sequence similarity 114 member A2 (Fam114a2) is sperm binding protein that is highly conserved in mammals with homologs both in fungi and plants. Previous studies have demonstrated that miR-762 and P63 are two crucial players of spermatogenesis, and CricFM114A2 regulates their expression. Thus, the current study was focused on describing the role of Fam114a2 in spermatogenesis by generating Fam114a2 knockout (Fam114a2^-/-) mice using CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing techniques. We identified that Fam114a2^-/- mouse has normal fertility and normal morphology of sperm. Furthermore, histological investigation of testicular and epididymis tissues showed no subtle difference, and seminiferous tubules comprised of all stages of germ cells, including mature spermatozoa in Fam114a2^-/- mice. Moreover, cytological investigation of spermatocytes in the progression of prophase I also did not display any notable difference in Fam114a2^-/- mice. Additionally, normal expression of p63 and miR-762 was observed in Fam114a2^+/+ and Fam114a2^-/- testis indicating that Fam114a2 is not involved in the direct regulation of in mice spermatogenesis. Moreover, the removal of Fam114a2 in mouse did not affect the expression of its paralogue Fam114a1 in multiple tissues. Taken together our data determined that Fam114a2 is not essential for male fertility and spermatogenesis in mice.