Topaz1 is essential for spermatogenesis and male fertility
Résumé
Knockout of Topaz1 in mice results in male sterility with no post-meiotic spermatids or spermatozoa. Expression of most of genes involved in the PIWI pathway, DNA methylation and retrotransposons silencing will be investigated. The high degree of TOPAZ1 conservation in vertebrates and the presence of its protein in germline stimulate our interest to determine the essential role of Topaz1 in mouse.