Expression of lactate dehydrogenases A and B during chicken spermatogenesis: Characterization of testis specific transcripts

The substrates required for glycolysis change markedly at successive stages of spermatogenesis suggesting a considerable plasticity in the expression of glycolytic enzymes. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) isoenzymes, LDH-A and LD H-B, are expressed in premeiotic, meiotic cells, and early spermatids, both in avian and mammalian spermatogenesis. Highly polyadenylated forms, parti cularly of LDH-A, were detected in chicken testis. While mammals and columb id birds express the testis specific LDC-I-C gene in meiotic and postmeioti c cells, several LDH-B testis specific transcripts were detected in the cor responding cells during chicken spermatogenesis. These testis specific tran scripts and the mRNA of mammalian LDH-C show several properties in common, such as temporal correlation of expression, mRNA stability, and repression of premature translation. These observations suggest that the testis specif ic transcripts could perform during chicken spermatogenesis the functions o f the LDH-C mRNA in mammalian testis. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.