Journal
GENES & DEVELOPMENT
Volume 31, Issue 18, Pages 1841-1846Publisher
COLD SPRING HARBOR LAB PRESS, PUBLICATIONS DEPT
DOI: 10.1101/gad.303131.117
Keywords
Drosophila; gene evolution; spermatogenesis; testis
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Funding
- Mochida Memorial Foundation for Medical and Pharmaceutical Research
- National Institutes of Health (NIH) [R01-GM102192]
- NIH [R15-HD080511, R01-NS083833, R01-GM083300]
- Memorial Sloan-Kettering Core [P30-CA008748]
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Relatively little is known about the in vivo functions of newly emerging genes, especially in metazoans. Although prior RNAi studies reported prevalent lethality among young gene knockdowns, our phylogenomic analyses reveal that young Drosophila genes are frequently restricted to the nonessential male reproductive system. We performed large-scale CRISPR/Cas9 mutagenesis of conserved, essential and young, RNAi-lethal genes and broadly confirmed the lethality of the former but the viability of the latter. Nevertheless, certain young gene mutants exhibit defective spermatogenesis and/or male sterility. Moreover, we detected widespread signatures of positive selection on young male-biased genes. Thus, young genes have a preferential impact on male reproductive system function.
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