POSTER SESSION 2Commons West, Easel 40

1:00 PM to 2:30 PM

Characterization of a Sperm-Specific ChromosomalProteinRachel Sanchez, Junior, Biology (General)Mentor: Barbara Wakimoto, BiologyMentor: Takuo Yamaki

During spermatogenesis in animals, the developing malegerm cell undergoes dramatic changes in nuclear morphol-ogy. This transformation of round spermatid nuclei into con-densed nuclei of mature sperm is accompanied by loss of his-tones and enrichment of several sperm-specific chromosomalproteins. To date, the function of only a few sperm-specificchromosomal proteins has been studied. We are using thefruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, to investigate the functionof a protein that is encoded by the CG14835 gene. The pro-tein is interesting because it is small, highly enriched in pos-itively charged amino acids and it contains a small region ofsimilarity to other known sperm-specific chromosomal pro-teins. To test for the possible requirement of CG14835 forspermatogenesis and male fertility, we are generating muta-tions by imprecisely excising a transposable element that re-sides within the gene. Currently, we are molecularly analyz-ing independent excision lines to identify gene deletions. Thephenotype of males deleted for the CG14835 should revealwhether the protein plays a role in sperm chromatin remod-eling, sperm success during fertilization, or the maintenanceof paternal chromosomes in the early embryo. Overall, thesestudies should contribute to our understanding of the possibleroles that sperm-specific chromosomal proteins play in spermfunction.

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