Delineating meiotic gene expression of male mice (360G-Wellcome-109109_Z_15_A)

The mechanisms of meiosis have important consequences for the evolution, fertility, and speciation of sexually reproducing organisms. However, the full gene expression programme of meiosis is not currently known, partly due to heterogeneity of the cell population which is averaged by bulk tissue RNA sequencing or micro-array analysis. It has recently become possible to transcriptionally profile thousands of single cells using RNA sequencing, raising the possibility of identifying the gene expression profile associated with different stages of meiosis and hence delineating the full gene expression programme. The identification of genes expressed in meiosis and its sub-stages may aid in the discovery and understanding of meiotic mechanisms. I will use pseudotime ordering and latent factor analysis type methods to analyse this data and comprehensively define the transcriptional profile of male meiosis.