Germline stem cell isolation, lineage tracing, and aging in a protochordate

Aging in the protochordate Botryllus schlosseri is linked to significant changes in germline stem cell (GSC) fitness, while spermatids and sperm show minimal differences.

• Why it matters: Understanding how aging alters GSC fitness is key to explaining GSC competition and fertility decline, yet the regulatory factors are poorly defined across chordate evolution.
• What they did: The team isolated GSCs from Botryllus schlosseri by flow cytometry, profiled them with single-cell RNA sequencing, and used a new PacBio genome assembly plus transplantation and transgenerational lineage tracing.
• The result: Aged GSCs show reduced expression of markers including DDX4 and PIWIL1, mirroring trends in mammalian datasets and enabling future tests of drivers of GSC fitness and fertility-related therapeutic targets.

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