Transcriptome Analyses Reveal Expression Profiles of Morphologically Undifferentiated and Differentiated Gonads of Yangtze Sturgeon .
Rui Ruan, Ying Li, Huamei Yue, Huan Ye, Jiali Jin, Jinping Wu, Hao Du, Chuangju Li
Author Information
Rui Ruan: Key Laboratory of Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Wuhan 430223, China.
Ying Li: Key Laboratory of Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Wuhan 430223, China.
Huamei Yue: Key Laboratory of Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Wuhan 430223, China.
Huan Ye: Key Laboratory of Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Wuhan 430223, China.
Jiali Jin: Key Laboratory of Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Wuhan 430223, China.
Jinping Wu: Key Laboratory of Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Wuhan 430223, China.
Hao Du: Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Germplasm Resources and Biotechnology, Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Wuhan 430223, China. ORCID
Chuangju Li: Key Laboratory of Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Wuhan 430223, China.
Sturgeon is known as a primitive fish with the ZZ/ZW sex determination system and is highly prized for its valuable caviar. Exploring the molecular mechanisms underlying gonadal differentiation would contribute to broadening our knowledge on the genetic regulation of sex differentiation of fish, enabling improved artificial breeding and management of sturgeons. However, the mechanisms are still poorly understood in sturgeons. This study aimed to profile expression patterns between female and male gonads at morphologically undifferentiated and early differentiated stages and identify vital genes involved in gonadal sex differentiation of sturgeons. The sexes of Yangtze sturgeon () juveniles were identified via the sex-specific DNA marker and histological observation. Transcriptome analyses were carried out on female and male gonads at 30, 80 and 180 days post-hatching. The results showed that there was a total of 17 overlapped DEGs in the comparison groups of between female and male gonads at the three developmental stages, in which there were three DEGs related to ovarian steroidogenesis, including , and . The three DEGs were highly expressed in the female gonads, of which the expression levels were gradually increased with the number of days after hatching. No well-known testis-related genes were found in the overlapped DEGs. Additionally, the expression levels of and mRNA were decreased with the knockdown of mRNA via siRNA. The results further suggested that should play a crucial role in the ovarian differentiation of sturgeons. In conclusion, this study showed that more genes involved in ovarian development than testis development emerged with sexually dimorphic expression during early gonadal sex differentiation, and it provided a preliminary understanding of the molecular regulation on gonadal differentiation of sturgeons.
