Notch and Delta are required for survival of the germline stem cell lineage in testes of Drosophila melanogaster

by Chun L. Ng, Yue Qian, Cordula Schulz

In all metazoan species, sperm is produced from germline stem cells. These self-renew and produce daughter cells that amplify and differentiate dependent on interactions with somatic support cells. In the male gonad of Drosophila melanogaster, the germline and somatic cyst cells co-differentiate as cysts, an arrangement in which the germline is completely enclosed by cytoplasmic extensions from the cyst cells. Notch is a developmentally relevant receptor in a pathway requiring immediate proximity with the signal sending cell. Here, we show that Notch is expressed in the cyst cells of wild-type testes. Notch becomes activated in the transition zone, an apical area of the testes in which the cyst cells express stage-specific transcription factors and the enclosed germline finalizes transit-amplifying divisions. Reducing the ligand Delta from the germline cells via RNA-Interference or reducing the receptor Notch from the cyst cells via CRISPR resulted in cell death concomitant with loss of germline cells from the transition zone. This shows that Notch signaling is essential for the survival of the germline stem cell lineage.