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Luo LF, Xu ZS, Li DY, Hu Z, Gao ZX. Comparative transcriptome profiles of four sexually size dimorphic fish. Sci Data 2022; 9:774. [PMID: 36528628 PMCID: PMC9759545 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-022-01887-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2022] [Accepted: 12/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Sexual size dimorphism is widespread in fish species. Although sex growth differences in multiple species have been studied successively, the commonalities of regulatory mechanisms across sexually dimorphic species are unknown. In this study, we performed RNA-seq analysis of four representative fish (loach, half-smooth tongue sole, yellow catfish, and Nile tilapia) with significant growth differences between females and males. Clean reads were identified from four fish species, ranging from 45,718,052 to 57,733,120. Following comparison transcriptome analysis, there were 1,132 and 1,108, 1,290 and 1,102, 4,732 and 4,266, 748 and 192 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the brain and muscle of loach, half-smooth tongue sole, yellow catfish, and Nile tilapia, respectively. Furthermore, the expression levels were validated by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Comparative transcriptome profiles of four fish described here will provide fundamental information for further studies on the commonalities of sexually size dimorphic fish in regulating growth differences between females and males.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li-Fei Luo
- College of Fisheries, Key Lab of Freshwater Animal Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture/Key Lab of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Ministry of Education/Engineering Research Center of Green development for Conventional Aquatic Biological Industry in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China.
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan, 430070, China.
| | - Zi-Sheng Xu
- College of Fisheries, Key Lab of Freshwater Animal Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture/Key Lab of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Ministry of Education/Engineering Research Center of Green development for Conventional Aquatic Biological Industry in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan, 430070, China
| | - Dan-Yang Li
- College of Fisheries, Key Lab of Freshwater Animal Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture/Key Lab of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Ministry of Education/Engineering Research Center of Green development for Conventional Aquatic Biological Industry in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan, 430070, China
| | - Zhen Hu
- Hubei Aquatic Products Technology Promotion Station, Wuhan, 430060, China
| | - Ze-Xia Gao
- College of Fisheries, Key Lab of Freshwater Animal Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture/Key Lab of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Ministry of Education/Engineering Research Center of Green development for Conventional Aquatic Biological Industry in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China.
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan, 430070, China.
- Engineering Technology Research Center for Fish Breeding and Culture in Hubei Province, Wuhan, 430070, China.
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Identification and Characterization of Sex-Biased miRNAs in the Golden Pompano ( Trachinotus blochii). Animals (Basel) 2022; 12:ani12233342. [PMID: 36496865 PMCID: PMC9739008 DOI: 10.3390/ani12233342] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2022] [Revised: 11/25/2022] [Accepted: 11/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
The golden pompano (Trachinotus blochii) is a marine fish of considerable commercial importance in China. It shows notable sexual size dimorphism; the growth rate of females is faster than that of males. Therefore, sex-biased research is of great importance in T. blochii breeding. However, there have been few studies on sex differentiation and mechanisms underlying sex determination in T. blochii. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play crucial roles in sex differentiation and determination in animals. However, limited miRNA data are available on fish. In this study, two small RNA libraries prepared from the gonads of T. blochii were constructed and sequenced. The RNA-seq analysis yielded 1366 known and 69 novel miRNAs with 289 significantly differentially expressed miRNAs (p < 0.05). Gene ontology (GO) analysis confirmed that the TFIIA transcription factor complex (GO: 0005672) was the most significantly enriched GO term. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis showed that the differentially expressed miRNAs and target genes were mainly related to sex determination and gonadal developmental signaling pathways, specifically the Wnt signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, and steroid biosynthetic pathway. MiRNA-mRNA co-expression network analysis strongly suggested a role for sex-biased miRNAs in sex determination/differentiation and gonadal development. For example, gata4, foxo3, wt1, and sf1 genes were found to be regulated by bta-miR-2898; esr2 and foxo3 by novel_176, and ar by oar-let-7b. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis of selected mRNAs and miRNAs validated the integrated analysis. This study established a set of sex-biased miRNAs that are potential regulatory factors in gonadal development in T. blochii. These results provide new insight into the function of miRNAs in sex differentiation and determination in T. blochii and highlight some key miRNAs for future studies.
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Wan ZY, Lin VCL, Hua YG. Pomc Plays an Important Role in Sexual Size Dimorphism in Tilapia. MARINE BIOTECHNOLOGY (NEW YORK, N.Y.) 2021; 23:201-214. [PMID: 33580373 DOI: 10.1007/s10126-020-10015-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2020] [Accepted: 12/27/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Sexual dimorphism is common across the animal kingdom. Knowledge of the mechanisms of sexual size dimorphism is limited although it is important in biology and aquaculture. Tilapia is the common name for ~ 100 species of cichlid fish. Some are important aquaculture species and males outgrow females. To gain novel insights into the mechanisms underlying sexual size dimorphism, we analyzed the differences of brain transcriptomes between males and females in Mozambique tilapia and studied the function of the pro-opiomelanocortin (Pomc) gene in tilapia and zebrafish. The transcriptome analysis identified 123, 55, and 2706 sex-biased genes at 5, 30, and 90 dph (days post-hatch), respectively, indicating sexual dimorphism of gene expressions in the brain. The expression of Pomc in the tilapia brain was a female-biased at 30, 90, and 120 dph. An analysis of the DNA sequence located upstream of the tilapia Pomc transcriptional start site identified two estrogenic response elements. In vitro luciferase assay of the two elements revealed that β-estradiol significantly enhanced the expression of luciferase activity, suggesting that the expression of Pomc is mediated by estrogen. We knocked out Pomc in zebrafish using Crispr/Cas-9. The Pomc-knockout zebrafish showed faster growth and higher sensitivity to feeding as compared to the wild-type fish. Taken together, our results indicate that Pomc contributes to sexual size dimorphism and suggest that the high estrogen level in females promotes the expression of Pomc and suppresses feeding in female tilapias, which leads to the slower growth of female tilapias.
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Affiliation(s)
- Z Y Wan
- Molecular Population Genetics and Breeding Group, Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, 1 Research Link, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117604, Singapore
- School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 60 Nanyang Drive, Singapore, 637551, Singapore
| | - V C L Lin
- Molecular Population Genetics and Breeding Group, Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, 1 Research Link, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117604, Singapore.
| | - Yue Gen Hua
- Molecular Population Genetics and Breeding Group, Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, 1 Research Link, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117604, Singapore.
- School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 60 Nanyang Drive, Singapore, 637551, Singapore.
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore, 117543, Singapore.
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Zhao H, Wang H, Liu T, Liu S, Jin L, Huang X, Dai W, Sun K, Feng J. Gene expression vs. sequence divergence: comparative transcriptome sequencing among natural Rhinolophus ferrumequinum populations with different acoustic phenotypes. Front Zool 2019; 16:37. [PMID: 31528181 PMCID: PMC6743130 DOI: 10.1186/s12983-019-0336-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2019] [Accepted: 09/04/2019] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Although the sensory drive hypothesis can explain the geographic variation in echolocation frequencies of some bat species, the molecular mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are still unclear. The three lineages of greater horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) in China (northeast, central-east, and southwest) have significant geographic variation in resting frequencies (RF) of echolocation calls. Because their cochleae have an acoustic fovea that is highly sensitive to a narrow range of frequencies, we reported the transcriptomes of cochleae collected from three genetic lineages of R. ferrumequinum, which is an ideal organism for studying geographic variation in echolocation signals, and tried to understand the mechanisms behind this bat phenomenon by analyzing gene expression and sequence variation. RESULTS A total of 8190 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified. We identified five modules from all DEGs that were significantly related to RF or forearm length (FL). DEGs in the RF-related modules were significantly enriched in the gene categories involved in neural activity, learning, and response to sound. DEGs in the FL-related modules were significantly enriched in the pathways related to muscle and actin functions. Using 21,945 single nucleotide polymorphisms, we identified 18 candidate unigenes associated with hearing, five of which were differentially expressed among the three populations. Additionally, the gene ERBB4, which regulates diverse cellular processes in the inner ear such as cell proliferation and differentiation, was in the largest module. We also found 49 unigenes that were under positive selection from 4105 one-to-one orthologous gene pairs between the three R. ferrumequinum lineages and three other Chiroptera species. CONCLUSIONS The variability of gene expression and sequence divergence at the molecular level might provide evidence that can help elucidate the genetic basis of geographic variation in echolocation signals of greater horseshoe bats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanbo Zhao
- Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130117 China
| | - Hui Wang
- Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130117 China
| | - Tong Liu
- Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130117 China
| | - Sen Liu
- Institute of Resources & Environment, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, 454000 China
| | - Longru Jin
- Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130117 China
| | - Xiaobin Huang
- Vector Laboratory, Institute of Pathogens and Vectors, Branch of Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory for Zoonosis Control and Prevention, Dali University, Dali, 671003 China
| | - Wentao Dai
- Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130117 China
| | - Keping Sun
- Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130117 China
| | - Jiang Feng
- Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, 130117 China
- College of Life Science, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, 130118 China
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