Mutation of Serine protease 1 Induces Male Sterility in Bombyx mori

Xia Xu; Yaohui Wang; Jine Chen; Xin Du; Lusong Yao; Jun Xu; Yong Zhang; Yongping Huang; Yongqiang Wang

doi:10.3389/fphys.2022.828859

Mutation of Serine protease 1 Induces Male Sterility in Bombyx mori

Front Physiol. 2022 Feb 10:13:828859. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2022.828859. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Xia Xu¹, Yaohui Wang², Jine Chen¹, Xin Du¹, Lusong Yao¹, Jun Xu¹, Yong Zhang², Yongping Huang², Yongqiang Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Sericulture and Tea, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, China.
² Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.

Abstract

Serine proteases are important in reproduction, embryonic development, cell differentiation, apoptosis, and immunity. The genes encoding some serine proteases are essential for male fertility in both humans and rodents and are functionally conserved among metazoan. For example, the Serine protease 1 (Ser1) gene determines male reproductive success in the model lepidopteran insect Bombyx mori. In this study, we explored the function of BmSer1 through transgenic CRISPR/Cas9 technology-mediated mutations in silkworm. We found that the mutation of BmSer1 gene resulted in male sterility but had no effect on female fertility. Male mutants produce normal eupyrene sperm bundles, but the sperm bundles do not dissociate into single sperm. Male sterility caused by the BmSer1 gene mutation was inherited stably through female individuals. Therefore, the serine protease encoded by BmSer1 is essential for male reproductive success in lepidopterans and is a potential target gene for biological reproductive regulation.

Keywords: BmSer1; Bombyx mori; CRISPR/Cas9; DNA molecule mutation; male sterility.