Sperm flagella of highly divergent eukaryotic species share an architectural plan. Despite their ostensible ultrastructural similarities, mammalian sperm flagella beat with an asymmetric waveform, in contrast to the symmetrical beats of other eukaryotic flagella. Structural findings elucidate the molecular basis for this evolutionary divergence.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$189.00 per year
only $15.75 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Goodenough, U. W. & Heuser, J. E. Cell 41, 341–342 (1985).
Goodenough, U. W. & Heuser, J. E. J. Cell Biol. 100, 2008 (1985).
Wirschell, M. et al. Nat. Genet. 45, 262–268 (2013).
Nicastro, D. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 108, E845–E853 (2011).
Ma, M. et al. Cell 179, 909–922.e12 (2019).
Bui, K. H., Yagi, T., Yamamoto, R., Kamiya, R. & Ishikawa, T. J. Cell Biol. 198, 913–925 (2012).
Chen, Z. et al. Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-022-00861-0 (2023).
Leung, M. R. et al. EMBO J. 40, e107410 (2021).
Gadadhar, S. et al. Science 371, eabd4914 (2021).
Gomendio, M. & Roldan, E. R. S. Int. J. Dev. Biol. 52, 439–447 (2008).
Gomendio, M., Martin-Coello, J., Crespo, C., Magaña, C. & Roldan, E. R. S. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. 103, 15113–15117 (2006).
Gui, M. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 119, e2207605119 (2022).
Gui, M. et al. Cell 184, 5791–5806.e19 (2021).
Rao, Q. et al. Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. 28, 799–810 (2021).
Ichikawa, M. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 116, 19930–19938 (2019).
Gadadhar, S., Bodakuntla, S., Natarajan, K. & Janke, C. J. Cell Sci. 130, 1347–1353 (2017).
O’Hagan, R. et al. Curr. Biol. 27, 3430–3441.e6 (2017).
Van Leeuwenhoek, A. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. 12, 821–831 (1677).
Acknowledgements
The author thanks Z. Chen for critical reading of this article.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The author declares no competing interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mali, G.R. Spokes and barrels tune the asymmetric beating of mammalian sperm flagella. Nat Struct Mol Biol 30, 236–238 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-023-00938-4
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-023-00938-4