Nuclear receptor Ftz-f1 promotes follicle maturation and ovulation partly via bHLH/PAS transcription factor Sim

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Abstract

The NR5A-family nuclear receptors are highly conserved and function within the somatic follicle cells of the ovary to regulate folliculogenesis and ovulation in mammals; however, their roles in Drosophila ovaries are largely unknown. Here, we discover that Ftz-f1, one of the NR5A nuclear receptors in Drosophila, is transiently induced in follicle cells in late stages of oogenesis via ecdysteroid signaling. Genetic disruption of Ftz-f1 expression prevents follicle cell differentiation into the final maturation stage, which leads to anovulation. In addition, we demonstrate that the bHLH/PAS transcription factor Single-minded (Sim) acts as a direct target of Ftz-f1 to promote follicle cell differentiation/maturation and that Ftz-f1's role in regulating Sim expression and follicle cell differentiation can be replaced by its mouse homolog steroidogenic factor 1 (mSF-1). Our work provides new insight into the regulation of follicle maturation in Drosophila and the conserved role of NR5A nuclear receptors in regulating folliculogenesis and ovulation.

Data availability

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files. sequencing data have been deposited in SRA under BioProject ID PRJNA624186.

The following data sets were generated

1. Knapp EM
2. Li W
3. Singh V
4. Sun J
(2020) Direct targets of Ftz-f1 in Drosophila follicle cells
NCBI Sequence Read Archive, PRJNA624186.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/?term=PRJNA624186

Article and author information

Author details

Elizabeth M Knapp

Department of Physiology & Neurobiology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Wei Li

Department of Physiology and Neurobiology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-8699-5325
Vijender Singh

Institute for Systems Genomics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Jianjun Sun

Department of Physiology and Neurobiology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, United States

For correspondence
jianjun.sun@uconn.edu

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-6015-738X

Funding

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01-HD086175)

Jianjun Sun

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (Opp1160858)

Jianjun Sun

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (Opp1203047)

Jianjun Sun

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01-HD097206)

Jianjun Sun

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Copyright

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.