Relationship between target mRNAs of XmiRs and generation of <i>ΔXmiRs</i> mice.

(A) A dendrogram of hierarchical clustering analysis of target mRNAs of XmiRs and their neighboring miRNAs. (B) Venn diagram showing the relationship among putative target mRNAs of miR-741-3p, miR-871-3p, and miR-880-3p. Corresponding gene lists are shown in S3 Table. (C) A schematic presentation of the WT and ΔXmiRs locus. gR-741 and gR-871 represent positions of guide RNAs used for genome editing. (D) Representative PCR for genotyping of WT and ΔXmiRs (OT84) mice. Arrows in the right panel represent primers used for PCR. (E) Expression of XmiRs in WT and a ΔXmiRs testes (F2 of OT84) determined with semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis. U6 snRNA was used as an internal control. (F) HE-stained sections of seminiferous tubules in WT (left) and ΔXmiR (F2 of OT100) (right) testes at 8, 12, 16, and 30 weeks of age. The second and fourth panels for 30 weeks show higher magnification views corresponding to the rectangular area in the first and third panels. Lower two panels show mildly affected seminiferous tubules. Arrowheads show abnormal seminiferous tubules. Scale bar = 50 μm (8, 12, 16 weeks), 200 μm (30 weeks, lower magnification), 100 μm (30 weeks, higher magnification).