Figure 3.

THOR-deficient mice exhibit decreased fertility and an imbalance between females and males. (A) Comparison of the body weights of WT and THOR-deficient male mice. * indicates p ≤ 0.05 as determined by a t-test. The data are shown as the mean ± SD from two independent experiments. (B) Food intake changes in the mice. ** indicates p ≤ 0.01 as determined by a t-test, and **** indicates p ≤ 0.0001 as determined by a t-test. The data are shown as the mean ± SD from two independent experiments. (C) Survival curve statistics of WT and THOR-deficient mice. Ten mice in each group. (D) The testes/body weights of WT and THOR-deficient mice. ** indicates p ≤ 0.01 as determined by a t-test, and *** indicates p < 0.001 as determined by a t-test. The data are shown as the mean ± SD from two independent experiments. (E) The fertilization rates of WT female mouse oocytes after in vitro fertilization with sperm from WT and THOR-deficient male mice. (F) Embryonic development after THOR deletion by microinjection of the sgRNA and Cas9 mRNA mixture. Each group of 100 oospheres, repeat 3 times. * indicates p ≤ 0.05 as determined by a t-test. The data are shown as the mean ± SD from two independent experiments. (G) Female mice in estrus were mated with male mice of different genotypes, and the vaginal suppositories were counted the next morning. Six pairs of mice in each group. (H) Female mice in estrus were mated with male mice of different genotypes, and the fertilization of female mice with vaginal suppositories was assessed the next morning. n is the total number of embryos in female mice whose vaginal plugs were detected after mating in Figure 3G. Cultured in vitro for 24 h developed into 2-cell as a fertilization mark. (I) The reproductive statuses of the offspring of mice with different genotypes after 6 months of mating at a 1:1 ratio. (J) The female-to-male ratio of offspring from mice of different genotypes after 6 months of mating at a 1:1 ratio.