Fig 7

Schematics of the germline developmental requirement for Asz1 functions.

A. Wt juvenile gonads contain developing germ cells and give rise to ovaries and testes and fertile adult fish. Upon loss of Asz1, germ cells in juvenile gonads are lost by apoptosis, resulting in underdeveloped testes-like gonads that completely lack germ cells in the adult, and leading to development of fish as sterile males. B. Asz1 is essential for suppression of transposon expression very likely by acting in the piRNA pathway as shown in Drosophila and mice (blue and orange arrows). Loss of Asz1 also results in mis-organization of piRNA granules as detected by Ziwi and a yet unknown FG-repeat protein (maroon) of these granules. C. In contrast with piRNA granules, Asz1 (black) localizes to the Bb (light blue), but upon its loss, Bb granules are normally intact. These observations reveal differential necessities for Asz1 in distinct types of germline granules in zebrafish.