Welcome to the Male Infertility and Germ Cell Biology laboratory, we are located in the Bio 21 Institute and are part of the School of BioSciences at The University of Melbourne.
Male infertility and germ cell biology
We aim to identify key mechanisms required for male germ cell development, the aetiology of human male infertility and the interplay between fertility and health. This is achieved using a range of genomic, biochemical and cell biological methods, including the development of unique model systems.
Research overview
Male fertility research provides data of three-fold value:
Male infertility is a major medical problem affecting 1 in 20 Australian men of reproductive age.
For the majority of these men the underlying aetiology is unknown and thus, targeted therapies cannot be applied.
There is a growing demand for the development of male-based contraceptives.
An enhanced understanding of the mechanisms of spermatogenesis (the process of sperm production) may provide opportunities for contraceptive intervention.
At a population level, male infertility is a biomarker for other serious health issues.
Spermatogenesis has proven to be an extremely productive system within which to discover molecules and processes of fundamental importance to cell biology and human health.
Each of the fields of stem cells, cilia biology, epigenetics and DNA repair had their origins in the testis.
In order to produce 1,000 sperm per heartbeat, as humans do, stem cells must divide continuously, the DNA breaks inherent in cell division and in meiosis in particular must be faithfully and rapidly repaired, and the thousands of genes involved in forming the highly condensed, and motile sperm must be tightly regulated at each of a transcriptional, translational and post-translational level.
Unlike the majority of tissues wherein these processes occur only in discrete developmental processes or in response to challenge, within the testis they occur continuously and on a large scale, thus making spermatogenesis an outstanding system within which to discover novel pathways and to define their in vivo function.
Research focus
Cilia/flagellar development and function, genetic causes of human infertility, the importance of epigenetic regulation in male fertility, sperm head shaping and the transcriptional and translational control of germ cell-expressed genes.
Latest news from O'Bryan Lab
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- After decades of service to the lab and to science, our Lab Manager, Anne O'Connor, retired! We wish her the very best.
- We welcomed Natali Molotski to our team as a Project Manager.
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- Gemma won the ART Lab Solutions Gamete and Embryo award at the Society for Reproductive Biology Annual Meeting for her presentation "Delta and epsilon tubulin: two exotic tubulins that are integral in meiosis and sperm head shaping during male germ cell development".
- Maddison won the Male Contraceptive Initiative award at the Society for Reproductive Biology Annual Meeting for her abstract "CCDC112 is essential for the novel process of sperm mitochondrial sheath maturation and male fertility in the mouse".
- Ondřej Šanovec is visiting the lab from the Czech Republic for 3 months.
- Jess was awarded a DECRA Fellowship to define the mechanisms of the exotic tubulins, TUBD1 and TUBE1. Read more here.
- Moira contributed to a Review article in Human Reproduction Open "Current global status of male reproductive health".
- Gemma Stathatos completed her PhD and is now working as a PostDoc in the lab.
- Tao Tang started his PhD with us.
- Brendan and Moira contributed to a study in Molecular Cell “C19ORF84 connects piRNA and DNA methylation machineries to defend the mammalian germline”.
- Mia Everrett joined our lab as a casual research technician.
- Hongyi Yang and Zoe Francois have joined us for research projects; Jack Deane has joined us for his honours year.
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- Sam Cheers passed his PhD and is now working in Cambridge in the Reid Lab.
- Moira led and Brendan contributed to an important expert recommendation paper “Frequency, morbidity and equity—the case for increased research on male fertility” published in Nature Review Urology. This was the results of a combined effort of 26 researchers globally.
- Jess and the lab led a study published in Development entitled “Katanin A-subunits KATNA1 and KATNAL1 act co-operatively in mammalian meiosis and spermiogenesis to achieve male fertility“.
- Jess spoke at the Australian Reproduction Update meeting on “Fundamental mechanisms that drive mammalian sperm production”.
- Jess spoke at the Asia Pacific Initiative on Reproduction conference on “Molecular mechanisms of sperm production – the role of microtubules”.
- Brendan and Jess co-won the Male Contraceptive Initiative award at the annual Society for Reproductive Biology meeting.
- Jess spoke on the podcast about. Watch it here.
- Moira and Jess secured an ARC Discovery Project with collaborator Prof. Carsten Janke on “Decoding microtubule remodelling in sperm production”.
- We said goodbye to our long-time research assistant Jo Merriner, who is now again working at Monash University.
- Grace Allthorpe undertook Honours with us and Gulizar Saritas is visiting from Denmark for a 6 month research project.
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- Moira presented the Dean’s Lecture on “Why we need to talk about male fertility!” In addition to Moira, panel members included Sarah Robertson, David Gardner and Deidre Mattiske.
- Moira was featured on the Repro Radio podcast on “Sperm production and male fertility” Listen here.
- Brendan spoke at the Australian Reproduction Update on the genetic causes of male fertility.
- Prof. Sarah Robertson is on sabbatical with our lab here in Melbourne. It is wonderful to have Sarah around.
- A very important study was co-published with collaborators Joris Veltman, Manon Oud and team: “A de novo paradigm for male infertility“
- We published our article Human INHBB gene variant (c. 1079T> C: p. Met360Thr) alters testis germ cell content, but does not impact fertility in mice in Endocrinology with collaborators including Kelly Walton.
- Maddison Graffeo started her PhD and Joanna Jiang undertook Honours with us.
- Brendan was elected the Society for Reproductive Biology ECR representative 2023-2024.
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- Joseph Nguyen started as a research assistant in the lab and brings a strong background in fly husbandry and molecular techniques.
- Our review on the validated genetic causes of human male infertility has been published by Human Reproduction Update. See more here. The project was a collaboration of the IMIGC.
- Abstracts by Gemma and Amy have been accepted for award sessions (David Healy and ART Lab Solutions) at the annual Society for Reproductive Biology conference.
- Sam, Brendan and Jess are all presenting oral presentations in the ‘Sperm Biology’ session at the SRB conference.
- We published a review on delta and epsilon tubulin in mammalian development in Trends in Cell Biology. See more here.
- Gemma’s art made it to the cover of Trends in Cell Biology.
Contact
For enquiries, please email Professor Moira O’Bryan - moira.obryan@unimelb.edu.au
Academics and graduate researchers in the O'Bryan Lab - Male Infertility and Germ Cell Biology.
Group members
Prof Moira O'Bryan
Moira is a world leader in the fields of male fertility, male germ cell development and sperm function. She is an ARC college of experts panel member (2018-2020), has delivered numerous plenary presentations, has won multiple high-ranking awards, and has held continuous grants from the ARC and NHMRC for 26 years. Her lab has two largely overlapping themes: Understanding the mechanisms of sperm production and function, i.e. ‘how to build functional sperm’ Defining the genetic causes of male infertility Moira is a steering member of the International Male Infertility Genomics Consortium.
Dr Jessica Dunleavy
Jess works on understanding the fundamental mechanisms that drive mammalian sperm production using multiple knockout mouse models. Her research mainly centres around cytoskeletal dynamics and their relevance to male fertility, with particular focus on the unique cytoskeletal structures, regulators and protein transport pathways that feature during male meiosis and spermatid remodeling.
jessica.dunleavy@unimelb.edu.au
Dr Gemma Stathatos
Gemma explores how the cytoskeleton functions during male germ cell development in order to produce healthy sperm and uses various microscopy methods to achieve this. During her PhD, she investigated the function of two non-canonical cytoskeletal proteins using models of mouse sperm and embryo development.
g.stathatos@unimelb.edu.au
Anne O’Connor (Bsc(Hons))
Anne manages the lab and has significant experience in working with protein production and assessment, hormone assays, antibody development and various other techniques. Anne has worked with Moira for many years and has been involved in the characterisation of multiple knockout mouse models, including several mutagenesis studies.
Joseph Nguyen (BSc(Hons))
Joseph is a research assistant that previously investigated research questions into the biology and functionality of neural receptors, specifically in Drosophila. This has given him broad experiences into molecular techniques which include cloning, recombineering, construct design and assembly. He is also experienced in microscopy as well as protein tagging and visualisation.
Maddison Graffeo
Maddison investigates the role of a novel coiled-coil containing protein in male fertility and sperm function. She is co-supervised by Dr. Brendan Houston and Dr. Jessica Dunleavy.
Tao Tang
Tao is investigating how tubulin post-translational modifications work during male germ cell development. He is co-supervised by Dr. Jessica Dunleavy.
Jack Deane
Jack is investigating the role of osmoregulation in sperm function.
Visiting researchers
Hongyi Yang (2024-2025)
Visiting from China (The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University). Hongyi is a visiting research and medical doctor. He is investigating the role of a coiled-coil protein in male fertility.
Ondřej Šanovec (2024)
Visiting from the Czech Republic (Institute of Biotechnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences). Ondřej is a visiting PhD Candidate in the Komrsková group with a background in microscopy and image analysis. He is learning about the cytoskeleton in spermatogenesis.
Past lab members
- Dr. Hongyi Yang (March 2024-March 2025) - visited from China (The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University)
- Jack Deane
- Ondřej Šanovec (September 2024-December 2024) - visited from the Czech Republic (Institute of Biotechnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences)
- Dr. Brendan Houston
- Dr. Sam Cheers
- Gülizar Saritas (November 2023-April 2024) – visited from Denmark (University of Copenhagen)
- Zoé François (February – May 2024) – visited from France (Claude Bernard University Lyon 1)
Our available projects revolve around the major lab themes:
- The core processes of sperm construction and function
- Understanding the genetic causes of male infertility
Talk to us now about 2025 Honours, Masters and PhD opportunities.
Other areas of interest
Investigating the role of the cytoskeleton in spermatogenesis.
For more information, please email jessica.dunleavy@unimelb.edu.au or g.stathatos@unimelb.edu.au
Recent lab publications
AXDND1 is required to balance spermatogonial commitment and for sperm tail formation in mice and humans.
Houston BJ, Nguyen J, Merriner DJ, O'Connor AE, Lopes AM, Nagirnaja L, Friedrich C, Kliesch S, Tüttelmann F, Aston KI, Conrad DF, Hobbs RM, Dunleavy JEM, O'Bryan MK.
Epsilon tubulin is an essential determinant of microtubule-based structures in male germ cells.
Stathatos GG, Merriner DJ, O'Connor AE, Zenker J, Dunleavy JE, O'Bryan MK.
Genetic mutation of Cep76 results in male infertility due to abnormal sperm tail composition.
Houston BJ, Merriner DJ, Stathatos GG, Nguyen JH, O'Connor AE, Lopes AM, Conrad DF, Baker M, Dunleavy JE, O'Bryan MK.
Frequency, morbidity and equity - the case for increased research on male fertility.
Kimmins S, Anderson RA, Barratt CLR, Behre HM, Catford SR, De Jonge CJ, Delbes G, Eisenberg ML, Garrido N, Houston BJ, Jørgensen N, Krausz C, Lismer A, McLachlan RI, Minhas S, Moss T, Pacey A, Priskorn L, Schlatt S, Trasler J, Trasande L, Tüttelmann F, Vazquez-Levin MH, Veltman JA, Zhang F, O'Bryan MK.
The katanin A-subunits KATNA1 and KATNAL1 act co-operatively in mammalian meiosis and spermiogenesis to achieve male fertility.
Dunleavy JEM, Graffeo M, Wozniak K, O'Connor AE, Merriner DJ, Nguyen J, Schittenhelm RB, Houston BJ, O'Bryan MK.
Spastin is an essential regulator of male meiosis, acrosome formation, manchette structure and nuclear integrity.
Cheers SR, O'Connor AE, Johnson TK, Merriner DJ, O'Bryan MK, Dunleavy JEM.
KATNB1 is a master regulator of multiple katanin enzymes in male meiosis and haploid germ cell development.
Dunleavy JEM, O'Connor AE, Okuda H, Merriner DJ, O'Bryan MK.
Delta and epsilon tubulin in mammalian development.
Stathatos GG, Dunleavy JEM, Zenker J, O'Bryan MK.
CRISPs Function to Boost Sperm Power Output and Motility.
Gaikwad AS, Nandagiri A, Potter DL, Nosrati R, O'Connor AE, Jadhav S, Soria J, Prabhakar R, O'Bryan MK.
New Insights Into Sperm Ultrastructure Through Enhanced Scanning Electron Microscopy.
Korneev D, Merriner DJ, Gervinskas G, de Marco A, O'Bryan MK.
A framework for high-resolution phenotyping of candidate male infertility mutants: from human to mouse.
Houston BJ, Conrad DF, O'Bryan MK.
The functions of CAP superfamily proteins in mammalian fertility and disease.
Gaikwad AS, Hu J, Chapple DG, O'Bryan MK.
Haploid male germ cells-the Grand Central Station of protein transport.
Pleuger C, Lehti MS, Dunleavy JE, Fietz D, O'Bryan MK.