Figure 3. Gene expression defects in Nxt1 mutant testes places Nxt1 in a novel meiotic arrest class.

Comparison of gene expression defects in Nxt1, aly (aly-class mutant) and nht (can-class mutant) by RNA in situ hybridisation. All test genes were expressed in primary spermatocytes of control testes (A–F), with some transcripts persisting into spermatid elongation stages. No signal was detected in tMAC mutant testes (aly) (A″–F″), while all were detected at basal level (CG11249 and ran-like) or higher (CycB, CG15177, djl) in nht testes (A′″–F′″). CycB, CG15177 and CG42355 expression was detected in Nxt1^z2-0488/Nxt1^DG05102 mutant testes (A′″, C′″, F′″) while CG11249, ran-like and djl, were not detected in Nxt1 testes. CG3927 expression (control) is restricted to primary spermatocytes, and robust expression was detected in all four genotypes (G–G′″). Higher magnification images of the CG3927 staining (H–H′″) show a honey-comb appearance of the signal in all four genotypes, indicating mRNA accumulation predominantly in the cytoplasm rather than the nucleus (arrows). Scale bars are 50 µm. Bar in G′″ applies to A–G′″, bar in H′″ applies to H–H′″.