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Ruiz A, Cárdenas G, Velasco D, Ramos L. Understanding the genetic sex-determining mechanism in Hyla eximia treefrog inferred from H-Y antigen. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0304554. [PMID: 38820287 PMCID: PMC11142436 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0304554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2024] [Accepted: 05/14/2024] [Indexed: 06/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Genetic sex-determining mechanisms have been extensively elucidated in mammals; however, the sex chromosomes, sex-determining genes, and gene regulatory networks involved in sex differentiation remain poorly understood in amphibians. In this study, we investigated the sex-determining mechanism in the Hyla eximia treefrog based on karyotypic analysis and identification of H-Y antigen, a sex-linked peptide that is present in the gonads of the heterogametic sex (XY or ZW) in all vertebrates. Results show a diploid chromosome number 2n = 24 with homomorphic sex chromosomes. The heterogametic sex, ZW-female, were hypothesized based on H-Y antigen mRNA expression in female gonads (24,ZZ/24,ZW). The treefrog H-Y peptide exhibited a high percentage of identity with other vertebrate sequences uploaded to GenBank database. To obtain gene expression profiles, we also obtained the coding sequence of the housekeeping Actb gene. High H-Y antigen expression levels were further confirmed in ovaries using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) during non-breeding season, we noted a decrease in the expression of the H-Y antigen during breeding season. This study provides evidence that sex hormones might suppress H-Y antigen expression in the gonads of heterogametic females 24,ZW during the breeding season. These findings suggest that H-Y gene expression is a well-suited model for studying heterogametic sex by comparing the male and female gonads.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aidet Ruiz
- Department of Reproductive Biology, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, México City, Mexico
| | - Guadalupe Cárdenas
- Genética y Estudios Cromosómicos y Moleculares S.C., México City, Mexico
| | - Desiderio Velasco
- Genética y Estudios Cromosómicos y Moleculares S.C., México City, Mexico
| | - Luis Ramos
- Department of Reproductive Biology, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, México City, Mexico
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Uno Y, Matsubara K. Unleashing diversity through flexibility: The evolutionary journey of sex chromosomes in amphibians and reptiles. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY. PART A, ECOLOGICAL AND INTEGRATIVE PHYSIOLOGY 2024; 341:230-241. [PMID: 38155517 DOI: 10.1002/jez.2776] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2023] [Revised: 12/01/2023] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 12/30/2023]
Abstract
Sex determination systems have greatly diversified between amphibians and reptiles, with such as the different sex chromosome compositions within a single species and transition between temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) and genetic sex determination (GSD). In most sex chromosome studies on amphibians and reptiles, the whole-genome sequence of Xenopous tropicalis and chicken have been used as references to compare the chromosome homology of sex chromosomes among each of these taxonomic groups, respectively. In the present study, we reviewed existing reports on sex chromosomes, including karyotypes, in amphibians and reptiles. Furthermore, we compared the identified genetic linkages of sex chromosomes in amphibians and reptiles with the chicken genome as a reference, which is believed to resemble the ancestral tetrapod karyotype. Our findings revealed that sex chromosomes in amphibians are derived from genetic linkages homologous to various chicken chromosomes, even among several frogs within single families, such as Ranidae and Pipidae. In contrast, sex chromosomes in reptiles exhibit conserved genetic linkages with chicken chromosomes, not only across most species within a single family, but also within closely related families. The diversity of sex chromosomes in amphibians and reptiles may be attributed to the flexibility of their sex determination systems, including the ease of sex reversal in these animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoshinobu Uno
- Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Kazumi Matsubara
- Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Graduate School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Chubu University, Kasugai, Aichi, Japan
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Bókony V, Kalina C, Ujhegyi N, Mikó Z, Lefler KK, Vili N, Gál Z, Gabor CR, Hoffmann OI. Does stress make males? An experiment on the role of glucocorticoids in anuran sex reversal. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY. PART A, ECOLOGICAL AND INTEGRATIVE PHYSIOLOGY 2024; 341:172-181. [PMID: 38155497 DOI: 10.1002/jez.2772] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2023] [Revised: 12/06/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 12/30/2023]
Abstract
Environmentally sensitive sex determination may help organisms adapt to environmental change but also makes them vulnerable to anthropogenic stressors, with diverse consequences for population dynamics and evolution. The mechanisms translating environmental stimuli to sex are controversial: although several fish experiments supported the mediator role of glucocorticoid hormones, results on some reptiles challenged it. We tested this hypothesis in amphibians by investigating the effect of corticosterone on sex determination in agile frogs (Rana dalmatina). This species is liable to environmental sex reversal whereby genetic females develop into phenotypic males. After exposing tadpoles during sex determination to waterborne corticosterone, the proportion of genetic females with testes or ovotestes increased from 11% to up to 32% at 3 out of 4 concentrations. These differences were not statistically significant except for the group treated with 10 nM corticosterone, and there was no monotonous dose-effect relationship. These findings suggest that corticosterone is unlikely to mediate sex reversal in frogs. Unexpectedly, animals originating from urban habitats had higher sex-reversal and corticosterone-release rates, reduced body mass and development speed, and lower survival compared to individuals collected from woodland habitats. Thus, anthropogenic environments may affect both sex and fitness, and the underlying mechanisms may vary across ectothermic vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veronika Bókony
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Plant Protection Institute, HUN-REN Centre for Agricultural Research, Budapest, Hungary
- Department of Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Csenge Kalina
- Department of Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Nikolett Ujhegyi
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Plant Protection Institute, HUN-REN Centre for Agricultural Research, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Zsanett Mikó
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Plant Protection Institute, HUN-REN Centre for Agricultural Research, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Kinga Katalin Lefler
- Department of Aquaculture, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Safety, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Science, Gödöllő, Hungary
| | - Nóra Vili
- Department of Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Zoltán Gál
- Department of Animal Biotechnology, Institute of Genetics and Biotechnology, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Science, Gödöllő, Hungary
| | - Caitlin R Gabor
- Department of Biology, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas, USA
| | - Orsolya Ivett Hoffmann
- Department of Animal Biotechnology, Institute of Genetics and Biotechnology, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Science, Gödöllő, Hungary
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Oskyrko O, Mi C, Meiri S, Du W. ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Sci Data 2024; 11:243. [PMID: 38413613 PMCID: PMC10899194 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2023] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 02/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Trait datasets are increasingly being used in studies investigating eco-evolutionary theory and global conservation initiatives. Reptiles are emerging as a key group for studying these questions because their traits are crucial for understanding the ability of animals to cope with environmental changes and their contributions to ecosystem processes. We collected data from earlier databases, and the primary literature to create an up-to-date dataset of reptilian traits, encompassing 40 traits from 12060 species of reptiles (Archelosauria: Crocodylia and Testudines, Rhynchocephalia, and Squamata: Amphisbaenia, Sauria, and Serpentes). The data were gathered from 1288 sources published between 1820 and 2023. The dataset includes morphological, physiological, behavioral, and life history traits, as well as information on the availability of genetic data, IUCN Red List assessments, and population trends.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oleksandra Oskyrko
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Chunrong Mi
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Shai Meiri
- School of Zoology & the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Weiguo Du
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
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Burraco P, Torres-Montoro JC, Gomez-Mestre I. Larval plastic responses to warming and desiccation delay gonadal maturation in postmetamorphic spadefoot toads. Evolution 2023; 77:2687-2695. [PMID: 37793129 DOI: 10.1093/evolut/qpad180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2023] [Revised: 09/27/2023] [Accepted: 10/03/2023] [Indexed: 10/06/2023]
Abstract
Developmental plasticity allows organisms to adjust life-history traits to varying environmental conditions, which can have concomitant effects across life stages. Many amphibians are suitable model systems to study plasticity because their larvae can adjust growth and differentiation under fluctuating environments. It is unknown, however, whether somatic and gonadal differentiation are equally affected by environmentally induced plasticity or whether their decoupling alters gonadal maturation postmetamorphosis, which may affect fitness. We tested if developmental acceleration in response to warming and desiccation risk results in shifts in gonadal maturation during metamorphosis and postmetamorphic growth in western spadefoot toads (Pelobates cultripes). We found additive effects of increased temperature and desiccation risk on development and growth at metamorphosis, which largely constrained gonadal maturation in metamorphic and postmetamorphic individuals of both sexes. Furthermore, the conditions experienced by larvae incurred sex-specific carryover effects on the gonadal maturation of juveniles 5 months after metamorphosis. In females, high temperature delayed ovarian maturation regardless of the water level. In males, exposure to high temperature and high water levels slightly delayed the testes' maturation. These results highlight the relevance of larval plasticity in the gonadal maturation of species undergoing metamorphosis, which may have implications for population demographics and the evolution of life histories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pablo Burraco
- Ecology, Evolution and Development Group, Department of Wetland Ecology, Doñana Biological Station (CSIC), Sevilla, Spain
| | - Juan Carlos Torres-Montoro
- Ecology, Evolution and Development Group, Department of Wetland Ecology, Doñana Biological Station (CSIC), Sevilla, Spain
| | - Ivan Gomez-Mestre
- Ecology, Evolution and Development Group, Department of Wetland Ecology, Doñana Biological Station (CSIC), Sevilla, Spain
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