Abstract: Objective To reveal the dynamic expression patterns of autophagy-related genes during spermatogenesis according to the RNA sequencing data sets of 3 population cells related to mouse spermatogenesis. Methods RNA-Seq data during spermatogenesis were downloaded from the GEO database, KEGG(Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) pathway enrichment analysis of differentially expressed genes were conducted to detect significantly altered pathways between adjacent stages. 783 autophagy-related genes were obtained from the Autophagy Database, and the expression levels of 636 autophagy-related genes(the average FKPM>1) in spermatogenesis were displayed by heatmap. Results Autophagy and autophagy related pathways were significantly enriched between spermatogonia and pachytene but not significantly enriched between pachytene and round spermatid. In addition, 636 autophagy-related genes have three major expression patterns during spermatogenesis. Conclusions Autophagy had undergone significant changes in initiation of meiosis at the RNA level and autophagy-related genes were specifically expressed during spermatogenesis.

Key words: Spermatogenesis, Autophagy, RNA-Seq