Lagging X chromatids specify the orientation of asymmetric organelle partitioning in XX spermatocytes of Auanema rhodensis

Abstract The unequal partitioning of molecules and organelles during cell division results in daughter cells with different fates. An extreme example is female meiosis, in which consecutive asymmetric cell divisions give rise to 1 large oocyte and 2 small polar bodies with DNA and minimal cytoplasm. Here, we test the hypothesis that during an asymmetric cell division during spermatogenesis of the nematode Auanema rhodensis, the late segregating X chromatids orient the asymmetric partitioning of cytoplasmic components. In previous studies, the secondary spermatocytes of wild-type XO males were found to divide asymmetrically to generate functional spermatids that inherit components necessary for sperm viability and DNA-containing residual bodies that inherit components to be discarded. Here we extend that analysis to 2 novel contexts. First, the isolation and analysis of a strain of mutant XX pseudomales revealed that such animals have highly variable patterns of X-chromatid segregation. The pattern of late segregating X chromatids nevertheless predicted the orientation of organelle partitioning. Second, while wild-type XX hermaphrodites were known to produce both 1X and 2X sperm, here, we show that spermatocytes within specific spermatogonial clusters exhibit 2 different patterns of X-chromatid segregation that correlate with distinct patterns of organelle partitioning. Together this analysis suggests that A. rhodensis has coopted lagging X chromosomes during anaphase II as a mechanism for determining the orientation of organelle partitioning.