Using the Collaborative Cross to identify putative gamete compatibility genes

Authors

Clare Mulcahy

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Summer 2022

Keywords

JMG

JAX Location

In: Student Reports, Summer 2022, The Jackson Laboratory

Sponsor

Lydia Wooldridge, Ph.D. and Beth Dumont, Ph.D.

Abstract

Subfertility and infertility are common and often unexplained problems for human couples. Gamete incompatibility is one proposed explanation for some cases in which gametes fail to fertilize, but little is known about the genes involved in gamete compatibility in mammals. To identify possible genes of interest for future studies on gamete compatibility, I analyzed allele frequencies of suspected or known fertilization genes in mice from the production of Collaborative Cross mouse lines. I focused primarily on zonadhesin (Zan>/i>) and polycystin family receptor for egg jelly (Pkdrej). The PWK and CAST alleles were present at lower frequencies than expected in later generations of the Collaborative Cross mice, indicating the PWK and CAST alleles at or near these loci may have been disadvantageous for the reproduction of the CC mice. These results nominate Zan and Pkdrej, and in particular the CAST and PWK alleles, for future studies of gamete compatibility in mammals.