title: Piwil1 mediates meiosis during spermatogenesis in chicken.
abstract: Piwil1 mediates spermatogenesis and ensures stable cell division rates in germline cells in mammals. However, the involvement of Piwil1 in poultry spermatogenesis and meiosis is poorly understood. In the present study, we used TaqMan RT-qPCR to characterize Piwil1 mRNA expression in different types of spermatogenic cells, including primordial germ cells (PGCs), spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs), spermatogonia cells (Sa), tetraploid cells (Tp), round sperm cells (Rs), mature sperm, and in PGCs treated with retinoic acid. Our results revealed that Piwil1 is differentially expressed during spermatogenesis in chicken. Compared to PGCs, SSCs, Tp, and Sa, Rs cells presented the highest Piwil1 mRNA expression levels. Retinoic acid significantly upregulated Piwil1 and Stra8 mRNA expression as well as Piwil1 levels in chicken PGCs. In addition, retinoic acid induced PGCs to progress through all the meiotic stages, eventually leading to haploid cell formation, which was determined using flow cytometry and western blot analysis. Taken together, our results showed that during spermatogenesis, Piwil1 was first expressed at low levels in germ stem cells, PGCs, and SSCs. Its expression levels increased during later meiosis stages. Finally, no expression was detected in mature sperm after meiosis. Treatment of PGCs with retinoic acid further demonstrated that Piwil1 plays a key role in meiosis during chicken spermatogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Animal Genetic, Breeding and Molecular Design, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: herry2800@163.com.
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Animal Genetic, Breeding and Molecular Design, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: passioncgb@163.com.
authors.forename: Guobin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Animal Genetic, Breeding and Molecular Design, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: 26177435@qq.com.
authors.forename: Teng
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Animal Genetic, Breeding and Molecular Design, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: 434373554@qq.com.
authors.forename: Hongzhi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Animal Genetic, Breeding and Molecular Design, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: 276532497@qq.com.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Animal Genetic, Breeding and Molecular Design, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: 1169587200@qq.com.
authors.forename: Zhiteng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Animal Genetic, Breeding and Molecular Design, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: 1083866231@qq.com.
authors.forename: Xiaomin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Animal Genetic, Breeding and Molecular Design, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: 583292863@qq.com.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Animal Genetic, Breeding and Molecular Design, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: 515656223@qq.com.
authors.forename: Lichen
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Animal Genetic, Breeding and Molecular Design, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: 759145237@qq.com.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Animal Genetic, Breeding and Molecular Design, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: ghchen@yzu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Guohong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D060565:Argonaute Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D002645:Chickens / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D008297:Male; D008540:Meiosis / Q000235:genetics*; D013091:Spermatogenesis / Q000235:genetics*; D013093:Spermatogonia / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D013737:Testis / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D060565:Argonaute Proteins; D014212:Tretinoin
keywords: Chicken; Germ cells; Meiosis; Piwil1; Spermatogenesis