TABLE 1.

C. elegans Genes Involved in Male Germline Functions

Gene	Chr.	Predicted protein	Phenotype of mutant	Reference
cyk-4	III	Rho GTPase-activating protein (681 aa)	Incomplete cytokinesis due to failure to assemble the central spindle Failure to establish the anteroposterior axis in one-cell embryos	Jantsch-Plunger et al., 2000; Jenkins et al., 2006
fer-1	I	Transmembrane protein of the ferlin family (1907 and/or 2034 aa)	Immotile sperm due to short pseudopods Failure of fusion between PM and MOs during spermiogenesis	Ward et al., 1981; Roberts and Ward, 1982; Achanzar and Ward, 1997; Washington and Ward, 2006
fer-14	I	Transmembrane protein (608 aa)	Like spe-9 mutants	Kroft et al., unpublished
spe-4	I	8-Pass transmembrane protein of the presenilin (aspartyl protease) family (465 aa)	Arrest as terminal spermatocytes with vacuolated MOs that are not associated with FBs. Precocious activation of spermatids derived from males carrying a non-null spe-4 allele that suppresses the self-sterility of spe-8, spe-19, spe-27, and spe-29 mutants	L’Hernault and Arduengo, 1992; Arduengo et al., 1998; Gosney et al., 2008
spe-5	I	B subunit of V-ATPase (501 aa)	Arrest as terminal spermatocytes with vacuolated MOs that are associated with FBs	L’Hernault et al., 1988; Machaca and L’Hernault, 1997; Gleason et al., unpublished
spe-6	III	Ser/Thr kinase of the casein kinase I family (379 aa)	Arrest as primary spermatocytes where MSP fails to assemble Precocious activation of spermatids derived from males carrying a non-null spe-6 allele that suppresses the self-sterility of spe-8, spe-12, spe-27, and spe-29 mutants	Varkey et al., 1993; Muhlrad and Ward, 2002
spe-8	I	Non-receptor tyrosine kinase with the SH2 domain (512 aa)	Defect of hermaphroditic spermatids, but not male-derived spermatids, in activation into sperm	L’Hernault et al., 1988; Shakes and Ward, 1989a; Muhlrad and Ward, unpublished
spe-9	I	Transmembrane protein with 10 EGF-like domains (661 aa)	Defect presumably in sperm-oocyte binding and/or fusion	L’Hernault et al., 1988; Singson et al., 1998; Zannoni et al., 2003; Putiri et al., 2004
spe-10	V	4-Pass transmembrane protein with the DHHC-CRD zinc-finger motif that is a palmitoyl transferase (351 aa)	Small spermatids lacking MSP, resulting in immotile sperm with short pseudopods Failure of fusion between PM and MOs during spermiogenesis	Shakes and Ward, 1989b; Gleason et al., 2006
spe-11	I	Soluble protein (299 aa)	Abnormal development of embryos that are created by fertilization between a wild-type oocyte and a spe-11 mutant sperm (paternal-effect embryonic lethality)	L’Hernault et al., 1988; Hill et al., 1989; Browning and Strome, 1996; Royal et al., 1997; McNally and McNally, 2005
spe-12	I	Transmembrane protein (255 aa)	Like spe-8 mutants, except for partial defect of male-derived spermatids during activation into sperm	L’Hernault et al., 1988; Shakes and Ward, 1989a; Nance et al., 1999
spe-13	I	ND	Like spe-9 mutants	L’Hernault et al., 1988; Putiri et al., 2004
spe-15	I	Heavy chain of myosin VI (1219 aa)	Budding spermatids that still retain actin filaments and that contain fewer FB-MOs and mitochondria than wild-type cells	L’Hernault at al., 1988; Kelleher et al., 2000
spe-17	IV	Ser/Thr-rich, highly charged protein (142 aa)	Like spe-10 mutants	Shakes and Ward, 1989; L’Hernault et al., 1993
spe-19	V	Transmembrane protein with 11 potential phosphorylation sites in the cytoplasmic tail (300 aa)	Like spe-8 mutants	Geldziler et al., 2005
spe-26	IV	Protein similar to the actin-binding protein Kelch and Scruin (570 aa)	Arrest as primary spermatocytes with multiple nuclei	Varkey et al., 1995
spe-27	IV	Soluble protein (131 aa)	Like spe-8 mutants	Minniti et al., 1996
spe-29	IV	Transmembrane protein (66 aa)	Like spe-8 mutants	Nance et al., 2000
wee-1.3 (spe-37)	II	Myt1 (cyclin-dependent Ser/Thr kinase) ortholog (677 aa)	Arrest as primary spermatocytes where the G2/M transition fails	Lamitina and L’Hernault, 2002
spe-38	I	4-Pass transmembrane protein (179 aa)	Like spe-9 mutants	Chatterjee et al., 2005
spe-39	V	Protein associated with the HOPS complex in vitro (522 aa)	Arrest as terminal spermatocytes where FBs are naked and no clear MO is present	Zhu and L’Hernault, 2003; Zhu et al., 2009
spe-41 (trp-3)	III	Calcium-permeable cation channel of the TRPC family (854 aa)	Like spe-9 mutants	Xu and Sternberg, 2003
spe-42	V	6-Pass transmembrane protein with the DC-STAMP and RING finger domains (774 aa)	Like spe-9 mutants	Kroft et al., 2005
swm-1	V	Soluble protein with two trypsin inhibitor-like domains (86 and/or 135 aa)	Ectopic activation of spermatids into sperm within the male reproductive tract	Stanfield and Villeneuve, 2006

Chr., chromosome; aa, amino acid; PM, plasma membrane; SH2, Src homology 2; ND, not determined.