The Masculinizer gene,Masc,encodes a lepidopteran-specific novel CCCHtype zinc finger protein,which controls sex determination and dosage compensation in Bombyx mori.Considering the potential application of it in pest...The Masculinizer gene,Masc,encodes a lepidopteran-specific novel CCCHtype zinc finger protein,which controls sex determination and dosage compensation in Bombyx mori.Considering the potential application of it in pest control,it is necessary to investigate the function of Masc gene in Hyphantria cunea,a globally invasive forest pest.In the present study,we identified and functionally characterized the Masc gene,HcMasc,in H.cunea.Sequence analysis revealed that HcMASC contained the conserved CCCH-type zinc finger domain,nuclear localization signal,and male determining domain,in which the last was confirmed to be required for its masculinization in BmN cell line.However,expression data showed that unlike male-biased expression in B.mori,Hc-Masc gene expresses in main all developmental stages or tissues in both sexes.Clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats(CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9-based disruption of the common exons 1 and 3 of the HcMasc gene resulted in imbalanced sex ratio and abnormal external genitalia of both sexes.Our results suggest that the HcMasc gene is required for both male and female sexual differentiation and dosage compensation in H.cunea and provide a foundation for developing better strategies to control this pest.展开更多
Pod1 is a member of the basic helix-loop-helix(bHLH) family of transcription factors that have been implicated in the regulation of sexual differentiation and gonadal development in mammals.However,to date,little is k...Pod1 is a member of the basic helix-loop-helix(bHLH) family of transcription factors that have been implicated in the regulation of sexual differentiation and gonadal development in mammals.However,to date,little is known about the role of Pod1 in nonmammalian vertebrate gonadogenesis.We cloned and characterized the Pod1 gene from tilapia.The tilapia Pod1 gene contains an open reading frame(ORF) of 525 nucleotides which potentially codes for a protein with 174 amino acids.Sequence alignment revealed that the deduced tilapia protein sequence shared high homology(79.5% to 90.5%) with the Pod1 sequences of other vertebrates.The tissue distribution of Pod1 revealed by RT-PCR showed that it had varied expression patterns in adult tilapia.In situ hybridization was performed to examine the temporal and spatial expression patterns of Pod1 during tilapia sexual differentiation and gonadal development.In the undifferentiated gonad,Pod1 was expressed in the somatic cells of both sexes.Subsequently,Pod1 expression in tilapia persisted in differentiated juvenile and adult ovary and testis.Our data indicate for the first time that Pod1 is not only necessary for the onset of sexual differentiation,but also plays an important role in gonadal development in the teleost.展开更多
Plant development is a process from germination of seed to vegetative growth, flower initiation and development, fertilization and finally to the next generation seed formation. A lot of achievements have been obtai...Plant development is a process from germination of seed to vegetative growth, flower initiation and development, fertilization and finally to the next generation seed formation. A lot of achievements have been obtained in plant developmental biology in China. Since the 1990's, those young generation scientists returned to China from abroad to use molecular and genetic techniques to study morphological, physiological and biochemical process of plant development. The present paper reviews the progress in some research area of plant developmental biology in the past decades and also prospects the chance and future of plant developmental studies, due to the recent advances of plant genome sequencing and functional genomics in China under the international research background.展开更多
Sex emerges out of a delicate dance between a variety of promale, anti-male, and possibly profemale genes. To investigate the role that sex-related genes play in sex determination and gonadal differentiation of fowl, ...Sex emerges out of a delicate dance between a variety of promale, anti-male, and possibly profemale genes. To investigate the role that sex-related genes play in sex determination and gonadal differentiation of fowl, we constructed a male-to- female sex-reversal model of chick induced by diethylstilbestrol （DES） at onset of incubation （E0）. The results of semi- quantitative PCR showed that the expression of Sf1, the orphan nuclear receptor steroidogenic factor-1 gene, was put forward from E7d to E5d and up-regulated during E5-7d; the Dmrt1, the double sex and the Mab-3 related to transcription factor 1 gene, was down-regulated during E3-7d. Meanwhile, anti-Müllerian hormone gene （Amh） expressed at a similar level in the genetic females and sex-reversal females before E7d, while no expression products of the three female-specific genes Wpkci, Fet1 and Foxl2 were detected in male-to-female embryos. These findings suggest that the expression of some certain sex-related genes, induced by the exogenous estrogen during period of sex determination and gonadal differentiation, results in the male-to-female sex reversal. Moreover, high activity of Sf1 gene during E5-7d might be related to the profemale process, while low activity of Dmrt1 gene during E3-5d might be anti-male. The expression activity of Amh gene might only contribute to the promale process after E7d, however, it is possibly not an anti-female gene in chick embryos.展开更多
Sex determination(SD)involves mechanisms that determine whether an individual will develop into a male,female,or in rare cases,hermaphrodite.Crustaceans harbor extremely diverse SD systems,including hermaphroditism,en...Sex determination(SD)involves mechanisms that determine whether an individual will develop into a male,female,or in rare cases,hermaphrodite.Crustaceans harbor extremely diverse SD systems,including hermaphroditism,environmental sex determination(ESD),genetic sex determination(GSD),and cytoplasmic sex determination(e.g.,Wolbachia controlled SD systems).Such diversity lays the groundwork for researching the evolution of SD in crustaceans,i.e.,transitions among different SD systems.However,most previous research has focused on understanding the mechanism of SD within a sin-gle lineage or species,overlooking the transition across different SD systems.To help bridge this gap,we summarize the understanding of SD in various clades of crustaceans,and discuss how different SD systems might evolve from one another.Furthermore,we review the genetic basis for transitions between different SD systems(i.e.,Dmrt genes)and propose the microcrustacean Daphnia(clade Branchiopoda)as a model to study the transition from ESD to GSD.展开更多
Identification of germ cell markers in fishes is crucial to track the germ cell differentiation and migration for manipulation of the cells to study sexual differentiation as well as to carry out transgenic transplant...Identification of germ cell markers in fishes is crucial to track the germ cell differentiation and migration for manipulation of the cells to study sexual differentiation as well as to carry out transgenic transplantation techniques.Several germ cell-specific markers such as vasa,cnbp,dnd,nanos3,cbx2,amh,dmrt1,Ly75/CD205 have been characterized so far in fishes using localization and expression analysis,which have highlighted the spatio-temporal pattern of expression in early gonadal development.Incidentally,seasonal breeders show dramatic changes during gonadal recrudescence,which might also influence germ cell differentiation and growth to entrain the reproductive cycle.Hence,an in-depth analysis of the gonadal cycle is required to delineate germ cell progress,differentiation,and maturation explicitly.In this context,fishes undergoing gonadal recrudescence for the seasonal cycle show germ cell proliferation differentially.Most of these germ cell markers belong to the DEAD-box protein family of ATP-dependent RNA helicases sharing consensus motifs and clustering in phylogenetic analysis.These markers were found to be well-conserved throughout evolution.In situ hybridization approaches confirmed the germ cell specific distribution of these molecular markers.In addition,several genes such as fgf and gsdf seem to facilitate germ cell development and differentiation.Hence,more detailed studies on these factors will facilitate a better understanding of germ cell development.This review highlights various germ cell markers in fishes and their immense potential to use these cells for germ cell transplantation.The extensive knowledge of the germ cell markers can also be exploited to carry out other biotechnological experiments aiming at the preservation of genetic information of endangered species or the analytical study of gonadogenesis.展开更多
基金funded by the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences(XDB11010600)National Natural Science Foundation of China(32101531 and 31420103918)National Key Research and Development Program of China,grant number 2018YFD0600203.
文摘The Masculinizer gene,Masc,encodes a lepidopteran-specific novel CCCHtype zinc finger protein,which controls sex determination and dosage compensation in Bombyx mori.Considering the potential application of it in pest control,it is necessary to investigate the function of Masc gene in Hyphantria cunea,a globally invasive forest pest.In the present study,we identified and functionally characterized the Masc gene,HcMasc,in H.cunea.Sequence analysis revealed that HcMASC contained the conserved CCCH-type zinc finger domain,nuclear localization signal,and male determining domain,in which the last was confirmed to be required for its masculinization in BmN cell line.However,expression data showed that unlike male-biased expression in B.mori,Hc-Masc gene expresses in main all developmental stages or tissues in both sexes.Clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats(CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9-based disruption of the common exons 1 and 3 of the HcMasc gene resulted in imbalanced sex ratio and abnormal external genitalia of both sexes.Our results suggest that the HcMasc gene is required for both male and female sexual differentiation and dosage compensation in H.cunea and provide a foundation for developing better strategies to control this pest.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31072199)a program of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science,Japan
文摘Pod1 is a member of the basic helix-loop-helix(bHLH) family of transcription factors that have been implicated in the regulation of sexual differentiation and gonadal development in mammals.However,to date,little is known about the role of Pod1 in nonmammalian vertebrate gonadogenesis.We cloned and characterized the Pod1 gene from tilapia.The tilapia Pod1 gene contains an open reading frame(ORF) of 525 nucleotides which potentially codes for a protein with 174 amino acids.Sequence alignment revealed that the deduced tilapia protein sequence shared high homology(79.5% to 90.5%) with the Pod1 sequences of other vertebrates.The tissue distribution of Pod1 revealed by RT-PCR showed that it had varied expression patterns in adult tilapia.In situ hybridization was performed to examine the temporal and spatial expression patterns of Pod1 during tilapia sexual differentiation and gonadal development.In the undifferentiated gonad,Pod1 was expressed in the somatic cells of both sexes.Subsequently,Pod1 expression in tilapia persisted in differentiated juvenile and adult ovary and testis.Our data indicate for the first time that Pod1 is not only necessary for the onset of sexual differentiation,but also plays an important role in gonadal development in the teleost.
文摘Plant development is a process from germination of seed to vegetative growth, flower initiation and development, fertilization and finally to the next generation seed formation. A lot of achievements have been obtained in plant developmental biology in China. Since the 1990's, those young generation scientists returned to China from abroad to use molecular and genetic techniques to study morphological, physiological and biochemical process of plant development. The present paper reviews the progress in some research area of plant developmental biology in the past decades and also prospects the chance and future of plant developmental studies, due to the recent advances of plant genome sequencing and functional genomics in China under the international research background.
基金supported by the National Key Technology R&D Program of China (2007BAD72B01)the National High Technology R&D Program of China (2011AA100306)
文摘Sex emerges out of a delicate dance between a variety of promale, anti-male, and possibly profemale genes. To investigate the role that sex-related genes play in sex determination and gonadal differentiation of fowl, we constructed a male-to- female sex-reversal model of chick induced by diethylstilbestrol （DES） at onset of incubation （E0）. The results of semi- quantitative PCR showed that the expression of Sf1, the orphan nuclear receptor steroidogenic factor-1 gene, was put forward from E7d to E5d and up-regulated during E5-7d; the Dmrt1, the double sex and the Mab-3 related to transcription factor 1 gene, was down-regulated during E3-7d. Meanwhile, anti-Müllerian hormone gene （Amh） expressed at a similar level in the genetic females and sex-reversal females before E7d, while no expression products of the three female-specific genes Wpkci, Fet1 and Foxl2 were detected in male-to-female embryos. These findings suggest that the expression of some certain sex-related genes, induced by the exogenous estrogen during period of sex determination and gonadal differentiation, results in the male-to-female sex reversal. Moreover, high activity of Sf1 gene during E5-7d might be related to the profemale process, while low activity of Dmrt1 gene during E3-5d might be anti-male. The expression activity of Amh gene might only contribute to the promale process after E7d, however, it is possibly not an anti-female gene in chick embryos.
基金This work was financially supported by NIH grant R35-GM122566-01 to M.L.NIH Enabling Discovery through GEnomics(EDGE)grant IOS-1922914 to M.L.and Andrew Zelhof(Indiana University).
文摘Sex determination(SD)involves mechanisms that determine whether an individual will develop into a male,female,or in rare cases,hermaphrodite.Crustaceans harbor extremely diverse SD systems,including hermaphroditism,environmental sex determination(ESD),genetic sex determination(GSD),and cytoplasmic sex determination(e.g.,Wolbachia controlled SD systems).Such diversity lays the groundwork for researching the evolution of SD in crustaceans,i.e.,transitions among different SD systems.However,most previous research has focused on understanding the mechanism of SD within a sin-gle lineage or species,overlooking the transition across different SD systems.To help bridge this gap,we summarize the understanding of SD in various clades of crustaceans,and discuss how different SD systems might evolve from one another.Furthermore,we review the genetic basis for transitions between different SD systems(i.e.,Dmrt genes)and propose the microcrustacean Daphnia(clade Branchiopoda)as a model to study the transition from ESD to GSD.
基金The research work mentioned in this review was supported by a grant-in-aid(Ref.No.37(1708)/18/EMR-II)from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research,India,to BS.NA is thankful to the University of Hyderabad for the Non-NET fellowshipAuthors acknowledge BUILDER Grant from DBT(Ref No.BUILDER-DBT-BT/INF/22/SP41176/2020),India,to School of Life Sciences,University of Hyderabad.Authors also acknowledge Ms.Sonika Kar for proofreading the manuscript.
文摘Identification of germ cell markers in fishes is crucial to track the germ cell differentiation and migration for manipulation of the cells to study sexual differentiation as well as to carry out transgenic transplantation techniques.Several germ cell-specific markers such as vasa,cnbp,dnd,nanos3,cbx2,amh,dmrt1,Ly75/CD205 have been characterized so far in fishes using localization and expression analysis,which have highlighted the spatio-temporal pattern of expression in early gonadal development.Incidentally,seasonal breeders show dramatic changes during gonadal recrudescence,which might also influence germ cell differentiation and growth to entrain the reproductive cycle.Hence,an in-depth analysis of the gonadal cycle is required to delineate germ cell progress,differentiation,and maturation explicitly.In this context,fishes undergoing gonadal recrudescence for the seasonal cycle show germ cell proliferation differentially.Most of these germ cell markers belong to the DEAD-box protein family of ATP-dependent RNA helicases sharing consensus motifs and clustering in phylogenetic analysis.These markers were found to be well-conserved throughout evolution.In situ hybridization approaches confirmed the germ cell specific distribution of these molecular markers.In addition,several genes such as fgf and gsdf seem to facilitate germ cell development and differentiation.Hence,more detailed studies on these factors will facilitate a better understanding of germ cell development.This review highlights various germ cell markers in fishes and their immense potential to use these cells for germ cell transplantation.The extensive knowledge of the germ cell markers can also be exploited to carry out other biotechnological experiments aiming at the preservation of genetic information of endangered species or the analytical study of gonadogenesis.
