A premature acrosome reaction is programmed by mouse t haplotypes during sperm differentiation and could play a role in transmission ratio distortion

J. Brown, J. A. Cebra-Thomas, J. D. Bleil, P. M. Wassarman, L. M. Silver

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mouse t haplotypes are variant forms of chromosome 17 that can be transmitted at non-Mendelian ratios by heterozygous +/t males. The accumulated genetic data indicate that '+-sperm' and 't-sperm' are produced in equal numbers but that most '+-sperm' are rendered dysfunctional, so that 't-sperm' have a relative advantage at fertilization. To date, the basis for this t-induced sperm dysfunction has remained unknown. Here we demonstrate that a high proportion of sperm obtained from certain strains of +/t mice undergo a premature acrosome reaction under in vitro capacitation conditions. The simplest interpretation of these data, in conjunction with previous results, is that developing '+-spermatids' are preprogrammed by 't-spermatids' to undergo this premature reaction. Since acrosome-reacted sperm are unable to participate in the process of fertilization, this defect could account for the extreme distortion of transmission ratio observed from mice heterozygous for a class of complete t haplotypes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)769-773
Number of pages5
JournalDevelopment (Cambridge)
Volume106
Issue number4
StatePublished - 1989
Externally publishedYes

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