title: Autonomous differentiation of Drosophila spermatogonia in vitro.
abstract: Spermatogenesis is a complex process that produces functional sperm by establishing male germline stem cells (mGSCs) in adult testes. To study Drosophila spermatogenesis in vitro, we examined various culture conditions of spermatogonia. Spermatogonia from larval testes began to differentiate soon after culture, whereas mGSCs did not undergo self-renewal division. Strikingly, 16-cell spermatogonia from early and late larval testes differentiated into motile spermatids autonomously. Furthermore, individual spermatogonia developed into motile spermatids even after mechanical dissociation from encapsulating cyst cells. This is the first study to report that spermatogonia in larval testes retain the ability to differentiate into spermatids in the absence of gonadal tissue. Our in vitro system should provide an excellent opportunity to study spermatogenesis in detail and apply genetic manipulation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sciences, Faculty of Science, Ibaraki University, Mito 310-8512, Japan.
authors.forename: Tatsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kawamoto
authors.forename: Keita
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kawai
authors.forename: Tatsuji
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kodama
authors.forename: Tomohiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yokokura
authors.forename: Yuzo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Niki
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D002455:Cell Division / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004330:Drosophila / Q000502:physiology*; D007814:Larva / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008938:Mitosis / Q000502:physiology; D008954:Models, Biological; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D013081:Sperm Motility / Q000502:physiology; D013087:Spermatids / Q000502:physiology; D013093:Spermatogonia / Q000502:physiology*; D013737:Testis / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology