Proteomic and evolutionary analyses of sperm activation identify uncharacterized genes in Caenorhabditis nematodes

BACKGROUND: Nematode sperm have unique and highly diverged morphology and molecular biology. In particular, nematode sperm contain subcellular vesicles known as membranous organelles that are necessary for male fertility, yet play a still unknown role in overall sperm function. Here we take a novel proteomic approach to characterize the functional protein complement of membranous organelles in two Caenorhabditis species: C. elegans and C. remanei. RESULTS: We identify distinct protein compositions between membranous organelles and the activated sperm body. Two particularly interesting and undescribed gene families—the Nematode-Specific Peptide family, group D and the here designated Nematode-Specific Peptide family, group F—localize to the membranous organelle. Both multigene families are nematode-specific and exhibit patterns of conserved evolution specific to the Caenorhabditis clade. These data suggest gene family dynamics may be a more prevalent mode of evolution than sequence divergence within sperm. Using a CRISPR-based knock-out of the NSPF gene family, we find no evidence of a male fertility effect of these genes, despite their high protein abundance within the membranous organelles. CONCLUSIONS: Our study identifies key components of this unique subcellular sperm component and establishes a path toward revealing their underlying role in reproduction. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12864-018-4980-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.