Preparation of Meiotic Chromosome Spreads from Zebrafish Spermatocytes

Summary

Nuclear surface spreads are an indispensable tool for studying chromosome events during meiosis. Here we demonstrate a method to prepare and visualize meiotic chromosomes during prophase I from zebrafish spermatocytes.

Abstract

Meiosis is the key cellular process required to create haploid gametes for sexual reproduction. Model organisms have been instrumental in understanding the chromosome events that take place during meiotic prophase, including the pairing, synapsis, and recombination events that ensure proper chromosome segregation. While the mouse has been an important model for understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying these processes, not all meiotic events in this system are analogous to human meiosis. We recently demonstrated the exciting potential of the zebrafish as a model of human spermatogenesis. Here we describe, in detail, our methods to visualize meiotic chromosomes and associated proteins in chromosome spread preparations. These preparations have the advantage of allowing high resolution analysis of chromosome structures. First, we describe the procedure for dissecting testes from adult zebrafish, followed by cell dissociation, lysis, and spreading of the chromosomes. Next, we describe the procedure for detecting the localization of meiotic chromosome proteins, by immunofluorescence detection, and nucleic acid sequences, by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). These techniques comprise a useful set of tools for the cytological analysis of meiotic chromatin architecture in the zebrafish system. Researchers in the zebrafish community should be able to quickly master these techniques and incorporate them into their standard analyses of reproductive function.

Introduction

Sexual reproduction proceeds through the combination of two haploid gametes, each carrying half the chromosome complement of a somatic cell. Meiosis is a specialized cell division that produces haploid gametes through one round of DNA replication and two successive rounds of chromosome segregation. In prophase I, homologous chromosomes (homologs) must undergo pairing, recombination, and synapsis, the latter of which is characterized by the formation of the synaptonemal complex that comprises two homolog axes bridged by the transverse filament, Sycp1 (Figure 1A,B). Failure to properly execute these processes can lead to the production of aneuploid game....

Protocol

All methods involving zebrafish were carried out using ethical standards approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at UC Davis.

1. Chromosome spreading procedure

NOTE: The following protocol is designed to create 4-6 slides, with hundreds of spread meiotic nuclei per slide. The numbers of testes used will depend on the size of the fish. Expect to use 20 animals at ~60 days post fertilization (dpf) and 15 animals at ~6 months post fertilization (mpf)........

Discussion

Here we describe methods to probe the location of telomeres and chromosome-associated proteins in nuclear surface spreads from spermatocytes isolated from zebrafish testes. We expect that these methods will be applicable for analysis of spermatocytes in other teleost species with adjustment to the size of the testis.

While only a few antibodies have been raised to zebrafish meiotic proteins, we have had success using the following antibodies raised to human (h) or mouse (m) proteins. Our lab h.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
1.5 mL centrifuge tubes	Several commercial brands available
1.5 mL microcentrifuge tube rack	Several commercial brands available
16% formaldehyde, methanol-free	ThermoFisher Scientific	28908
2 mL	Several commercial brands available
24 x 50 mm glass coverslips	Corning	2980-245
24 x 60 mm glasscoverslips	VWR International	16004-312
50 mL conical centrifuge tubes	ThermoFisher Scientific	363696
Autoclave bag	Several commercial brands available		Used to make plastic coverslips.
Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA)	Fisher Scientific	BP1605-100	Prepare a 100 mg/ml stock solution in sterile distilled water.
Cell Strainer, 100 µm	Fisher Scientific	08-771-19
CF405M goat anti-chicken IgY (H+L), highly cross-adsorbed	Biotium	203775-500uL	Use at 1:1000
Chicken anti-zfSycp1	Generated by Burgess lab	N/A	Use at 1:100
Collagenase from Clostridium histolyticum	Sigma-Aldrich	C0130-500MG
Coplin jar	Several commercial brands available
DNase I, grade II from bovine pancreas	Roche Diagnostics	10104159001
Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM)	Fisher Scientific	MT10014CV
Dumont No. 5 Forceps	Fine Science Tools	11252-30	Two are required for dissecting the testes.
Eppendorf Tubes, 5 mL	VWR International	89429-308
Formamide	Fisher Scientific	BP228-100
Goat anti-chicken IgY (H+L) secondary antibody, Alexa Fluor 488	ThermoFisher Scientific	A-11039	Use at 1:1000
Goat anti-chicken IgY (H+L) secondary antibody, Alexa Fluor 594	ThermoFisher Scientific	A-11042	Use at 1:1000
Goat anti-hDMC1	Santa Cruz Biotechnology	sc-8973	Does not work in our hands
Goat anti-rabbit IgG (H+L) cross-adsorbed secondary antibody, Alexa Fluor 488	ThermoFisher Scientific	A-11008	Use at 1:1000
Goat anti-rabbit IgG (H+L) cross-adsorbed secondary antibody, Alexa Fluor 594	ThermoFisher Scientific	A-11012	Use at 1:1000
Goat serum	Sigma-Aldrich	G9023-10mL
Heparin sodium salt	Sigma-Aldrich	H3393-100KU
Humidity chamber	Fisher Scientific	50-112-3683
Hybridization Oven	VWR International	230401V (Model 5420)
Incubator Shaker	New Brunswick Scientific	Model Classic C25
KCl	Fisher Scientific	P217-500
Kimwipes	Kimerbly-Clark Professional	34155	Used for the humidity chamber
KH2PO4	Fisher Scientific	P285-500
Microscope	Several commercial brands available		Any standard microscope capable of at least ~1.65X magnification is sufficient.
Microscope slides	Fisher Scientific	12-544-7
Mouse anti-hamsterSCP3	Abcam	ab97672	Does not work in our hands
Mouse anti-hMLH1	BD Biosciences	550838	Does not work in our hands
Mouse anti-hRPA	Sigma-Alrich	MABE285	Does not work in our hands
Na2HPO4 · 7 H2O	Fisher Scientific	S373-500
NaCl	Fisher Scientific	S271-3
Photo-Flo 200 solution	Electron Microscopy Sciences	74257
Plastic transfer pipettes	Several commercial brands available
PNA TelC-Alexa647	PNA Bio Inc	F1013	Prepare as per manufacturer's instructions.
PNA TelC-Cy3	PNA Bio Inc	F1002	Prepare as per manufacturer's instructions.
ProLong Diamond Antifade Mountant	ThermoFisher Scientific	P36970
ProLong Diamond Antifade Mountant with DAPI	ThermoFisher Scientific	P36971
Rabbit anti-hRPA	Bethyl	A300-244A	Use at 1:300
Rabbit anti-hSCP3	Abcam	ab150292	Use at 1:200
Rabbit anti-hRad51	GeneTex	GTX100469	Use at 1:300
Sodium citrate	Fisher Scientific	S279-500
Sucrose	Fisher Scientific	S5-500
Supercut Scissors, 30° angle, 10 cm	Fisher Scientific	50-822-353	Can also use any pair of small scissors.
Sylgard kit	Fisher Scientific	NC9897184	Prepare as per manufacturer's instructions.
Triton X-100	Fisher Scientific	BP151-100	Dilute in sterile distilled water to make a 20% working solution. Store at room temperature. Triton X-100 forms a precipitate when diluted in water; precipitate dissolves overnight.
Trypsin	Worthington Biochemical	LS003708
Trypsin inhibitor from chicken egg white	Sigma-Aldrich	T9253-500MG
Tween 20	Bio-Rad	170-6531	Dilute in sterile distilled water to make a 20% working solution. Store at room temperature.
Vannas Spring Scissors - 4 mm (micro scissors)	Fine Science Tools	15018-10