Deciphering the functions of Y chromosome in mammals has been slow owing to the presence of repeats. Some of these repeats transcribe coding RNAs, the roles of which have been studied. Functions of the noncoding transcripts from Y chromosomal repeats however, remain unclear. While a majority of the genes expressed during spermatogenesis are autosomal, mice with different deletions of the long arm of the Y chromosome (Yq) were previously also shown to be characterized by subfertility, sterility and sperm abnormalities, suggesting the presence of effectors of spermatogenesis at this location. Here we report a set of novel noncoding RNAs from mouse Yq and explore their connection to some of the autosomal genes expressed in testis. We describe a set of novel mouse male-specific Y long arm (MSYq)-derived long noncoding (lnc) transcripts, named Pirmy and Pirmy-like RNAs. Pirmy shows a large number of splice variants in testis. We also identified Pirmy-like RNAs present in multiple copies at different loci on mouse Y chromosome. Further, we identified eight differentially expressed autosome-encoded sperm proteins in a mutant mouse strain, XYRIIIqdel (2/3 Yq-deleted). Pirmy and Pirmy-like RNAs have homology to 5′/3′UTRs of these deregulated autosomal genes. Several lines of experiments show that these short homologous stretches correspond to piRNAs. Thus, Pirmy and Pirmy-like RNAs act as templates for several piRNAs. In vitro functional assays reveal putative roles for these piRNAs in regulating autosomal genes. Our study elucidates a set of autosomal genes that are potentially regulated by MSYq-derived piRNAs in mouse testis. Sperm phenotypes from the Yq-deleted mice seem to be similar to that reported in inter-specific male-sterile hybrids. Taken together, this study provides novel insights into possible role of MSYq-derived ncRNAs in male sterility and speciation.

中文翻译：

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Y染色体非编码RNA通过小鼠睾丸中的piRNA调节常染色体基因表达

由于存在重复，在哺乳动物中破译 Y 染色体的功能一直很慢。其中一些重复转录编码 RNA，其作用已被研究。然而，来自 Y 染色体重复序列的非编码转录本的功能仍不清楚。虽然在精子发生过程中表达的大多数基因是常染色体的，但 Y 染色体长臂 (Yq) 不同缺失的小鼠先前也被证明具有生育力低下、不育和精子异常的特征，这表明在这个位置。在这里，我们报告了一组来自小鼠 Yq 的新型非编码 RNA，并探索了它们与睾丸中表达的一些常染色体基因的联系。我们描述了一组新的小鼠雄性特异性 Y 长臂 (MSYq) 衍生的长非编码 (lnc) 转录本，命名为 Pirmy 和 Pirmy 样 RNA。Pirmy 在睾丸中显示出大量的剪接变体。我们还鉴定了存在于小鼠 Y 染色体上不同位点的多个拷贝中的 Pirmy 样 RNA。此外，我们在突变小鼠品系 XYRIIIqdel（2/3 Yq 缺失）中鉴定了八种差异表达的常染色体编码精子蛋白。Pirmy 和 Pirmy 样 RNA 与这些失调的常染色体基因的 5'/3'UTR 具有同源性。几行实验表明，这些短的同源延伸对应于 piRNA。因此，Pirmy 和 Pirmy 样 RNA 可作为几种 piRNA 的模板。体外功能测定揭示了这些 piRNA 在调节常染色体基因中的推定作用。我们的研究阐明了一组常染色体基因，这些基因可能受小鼠睾丸中 MSYq 衍生的 piRNA 的调节。来自 Yq 缺失小鼠的精子表型似乎与在种间雄性不育杂种中报道的相似。总之，这项研究为 MSYq 衍生的 ncRNA 在雄性不育和物种形成中的可能作用提供了新的见解。