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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Jun 1.
Published in final edited form as: Science. 2015 Dec 31;351(6271):391–396. doi: 10.1126/science.aad6780

Fig.2. tRNA cleavage predominantly occurs in the epididymis.

Fig.2

(A) Sperm RNA payload diverges dramatically from testicular RNA. Scatterplot shows small RNAs in testis vs. sperm, as in Fig.1E.

(B) Schematic of epididymis. Sperm exiting the testis enter the proximal (caput) epididymis, then proceed distally to corpus and cauda epididymis, and exit via the vas deferens.

(C) tRFs are primarily generated in epididymis. Northern blots for 5’ ends of tRNA-Gly-GCC or tRNA-Val-CAC on RNA extracted from testis, caput, and cauda epididymis. Arrow indicates ~30-34 nt 5’ tRFs. 5S RNA serves as loading control.

(D) Pie charts showing percentage of small RNAs mapping to the indicated features.

(E) Scatterplot of small RNA abundance for sperm vs. epididymosomes. Sperm-enriched RNAs include piRNAs and fragments of mRNAs involved in spermatogenesis (eg Prm1), and represent RNAs synthesized during testicular spermatogenesis.