Understanding the molecular mechanism of male infertility using flies, mice, and humans

Male infertility is a complex disorder with a strong genetic contribution. The work in this thesis used two model organisms, the vinegar fly Drosophila melanogaster and the mouse, to discover novel genes involved in spermatogenesis. Two candidate genes found to be mutated in infertile patients were found to be essential for Drosophila sperm production. One of these was further analysed by generating a knockout mouse. The function of intracellular zinc transport in male fertility was also examined by manipulation of zinc transporter genes in the Drosophila testis; several members of this gene family were shown to cause infertility when mutated.