C-terminal kinesin motor es-KIFC1 regulates nuclear formation during spermiogenesis in Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis

Kinesin-14 motor es-kifc1 is highly expressed in the male reproductive system of the Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis (E. sinensis). In addition to acrosomal formation, es-KIFC1 also tightly surrounds the nucleus and its specific mechanism remains unknown. During spermatogenesis, sperm nucleus dents into a cup-shaped structure with several radial arms and completed the nuclear decondensation. In this study, the spatial expression pattern of es-KIFC1 indicates a potential function in nuclear formation with the nuclear localization sequence (NLS) on N-terminal domain which is crucial for the translocation of es-KIFC1 into the nucleus. The Motor domain is associated with microtubule modulation and the Golgi vesicles positioning. Furthermore, the expression level of es-KIFC1 is not only related to the seasonal variation of crustacean development, but also associates with mature sperm storage. The double strand RNA (dsRNA) mediated RNA interference manifests that the cup-shaped sperm nucleus is remarkably malformed and even separates the chromatin throughout the nuclei at the last stage of spermiogenesis. Besides, the sperm nucleus almost disperses its structure and separates the chromatin into several segments throughout the nucleus showing an asymmetrical performance without cytoskeleton. In summary, these results indicate the importance of es-KIFC1 in microtubule positioning and the maintenance of the mature sperm nuclei.