Testis-specific products of the Drosophila melanogaster sbr gene, encoding nuclear export factor 1, are necessary for male fertility

- The new short testis-specific sbr transcripts with different 5′UTRs were described.
- The short testis-specific SBR protein isoform was identified.
- The sbr12 deletion causes the dominant male sterility.

The evolutionarily conserved nuclear export factor 1 (NXF1) provides mRNA export from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. We described several testis-specific transcripts of the Drosophila melanogaster nxf1 gene designated “sbr” in this species via different PCR approaches and CAGE-seq analysis. Characteristically, most of them have truncated 3′UTRs compared with those in other organs. In addition to regular transcripts, there are shorter transcripts that begin in intron 3 of the sbr gene. These short, 5′-truncated testis-specific transcripts vary in terms of transcription start site and their ability to exclude or retain the last 237 nucleotides of intron 3 in their 5′UTR. Using an anti-SBR antibody against the C-terminal portion of this protein, we detected the major SBR protein (74 kDa) in all analyzed organs of the fly as well as a new smaller protein (60 kDa) found only in the testes. This protein corresponds to the detected sbr transcripts that start in intron 3, based on its molecular mass. We investigated the sbr12 allele of the sbr gene, which is lethal in homozygous females and causes dominant sterility in heterozygous males. Sequencing of the sbr12 gene allele revealed a 30-bp deletion in exon 9 without a frame shift. Western blot analysis with an SBR-specific antibody revealed two bands of the expected size in the testes of heterozygous males. Thus, a mutant protein along with the normal protein presents in the testes of lethal allele-bearing flies and the described shorter testis-specific variant of SBR may account for male sterility.