Figure 1.

Characterization of mouse Spata16. (A) Testis-specific expression of Spata16 by multi-tissue RT-PCR analysis. The expression of mouse Spata16 was examined by RT-PCR using RNA isolated from various organs. Spata16 was only detected in the testis. The Actb gene was used as an expression control; (B) RT-PCR analysis of Spata16 and other globozoospermia-related genes in the mouse testis. Spata16 and Dpy19l2 were first expressed in a two-week-old testis. The onset of Spata16 expression occurred prior to that of Spaca1 encoding a sperm acrosomal protein; (C) Sequence similarity of SPATA16 protein in mammals. Black indicates a match in all species. Gray indicates a match among at least three species. The 283rd arginine residue of human SPATA16 as previously reported [3] is indicated by an asterisk. 79% of the SPATA16 amino acid sequence is identical between humans and mice.