Banking on spermatogonial stem cells to safeguard Australian native fauna

睾丸精原干细胞是一种未开发的物种保护资源。该项目旨在描述控制精原干细胞功能的代谢途径，并定义模式物种（小鼠）和脆弱的澳大利亚本土动物之间这些途径的保守性质。该项目的预期结果包括提高体外培养考拉精原细胞的能力，这将是利用精原生物库作为维持该物种遗传多样性工具的第一步。这项研究的结果应该为保护我们独特的澳大利亚本土物种提供重大好处，这在2019/20年灾难性的森林大火季节之后尤为重要。

Spermatogonial stem cells in the testis are an untapped resource for species conservation. This project aims to characterise metabolic pathways that control spermatogonial stem cell function, and define the conserved nature of these pathways between model species (mouse) and vulnerable Australian native fauna. Expected outcomes of this project include an enhanced capacity to culture koala spermatogonia in vitro, which will be a first step towards using spermatogonial biobanking as a tool to maintain genetic diversity in this species. Outcomes from this study should provide significant benefits in safeguarding our unique Australian native species, which is of particular importance following the catastrophic 2019/20 bushfire season.