The paradox of the genetics underlying infertility is that infertile individuals must have descended from fertile parents. Nonetheless, previous studies have attributed infertility in part to inherited genetic factors. As is the case with many pervasive human health conditions, this results from combinatorial effects of multiple genes, environmental factors and their interactions. Such small effects and interactions are often difficult to detect in both human populations and mouse models. The proposed research will identify genetic variation underlying male infertility using a new mouse population called the Collaborative Cross (CC). The CC is designed to facilitate mapping genes associated with complex traits. During the breeding process, up to 50% of incipient lines stop producing offspring and are declared extinct, and male infertility is a major mechanism of this extinction. This large and diverse population of infertile male mice can be used to better understand the biology and genetics of male infertility and its associated reproductive parameters such as sperm count and testis structure. This project is also valuable to develop new methods that apply to the CC population.

Public Health Relevance

Up to 10-15% of human couples are infertile and there have been many reports in recent decades of a significant decrease in male reproductive fitness (e.g. low sperm count). Research in the mouse indicates that fertility is a complex trait influenced by multiple genetic and environmental factors. The proposed research can help identify interactions between genes that affect male fertility.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F32)
Project #
5F32GM090667-02
Application #
8205432
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-F08-E (20))
Program Officer
Bender, Michael T
Project Start
2010-08-01
Project End
2012-05-31
Budget Start
2011-08-01
Budget End
2012-05-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2011
Total Cost
$45,510
Indirect Cost
Name
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Department
Genetics
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
608195277
City
Chapel Hill
State
NC
Country
United States
Zip Code
27599
Shorter, John R; Odet, Fanny; Aylor, David L et al. (2017) Male Infertility Is Responsible for Nearly Half of the Extinction Observed in the Mouse Collaborative Cross. Genetics 206:557-572
Odet, Fanny; Pan, Wenqi; Bell, Timothy A et al. (2015) The Founder Strains of the Collaborative Cross Express a Complex Combination of Advantageous and Deleterious Traits for Male Reproduction. G3 (Bethesda) 5:2671-83
Didion, John P; Morgan, Andrew P; Clayshulte, Amelia M-F et al. (2015) A multi-megabase copy number gain causes maternal transmission ratio distortion on mouse chromosome 2. PLoS Genet 11:e1004850
Phillippi, J; Xie, Y; Miller, D R et al. (2014) Using the emerging Collaborative Cross to probe the immune system. Genes Immun 15:38-46
Kelada, Samir N P; Carpenter, Danielle E; Aylor, David L et al. (2014) Integrative genetic analysis of allergic inflammation in the murine lung. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol 51:436-45
Rutledge, Holly; Aylor, David L; Carpenter, Danielle E et al. (2014) Genetic regulation of Zfp30, CXCL1, and neutrophilic inflammation in murine lung. Genetics 198:735-45
Ferris, Martin T; Aylor, David L; Bottomly, Daniel et al. (2013) Modeling host genetic regulation of influenza pathogenesis in the collaborative cross. PLoS Pathog 9:e1003196
Bottomly, Daniel; Ferris, Martin T; Aicher, Lauri D et al. (2012) Expression quantitative trait Loci for extreme host response to influenza a in pre-collaborative cross mice. G3 (Bethesda) 2:213-21
Collaborative Cross Consortium (2012) The genome architecture of the Collaborative Cross mouse genetic reference population. Genetics 190:389-401
Kelada, Samir N P; Aylor, David L; Peck, Bailey C E et al. (2012) Genetic analysis of hematological parameters in incipient lines of the collaborative cross. G3 (Bethesda) 2:157-65

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