Juan-Juan Sun , Zhi-Hui Sun , Jin-Liang Wei, Jun Ding, Jian Song, Ya-Qing Chang
{"title":"Identification and functional analysis of foxl2 and nodal in sea cucumber, Apostichopus japonicus","authors":"Juan-Juan Sun , Zhi-Hui Sun , Jin-Liang Wei, Jun Ding, Jian Song, Ya-Qing Chang","doi":"10.1016/j.gep.2022.119245","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Sea cucumber (<span><em>Apostichopus japonicus</em></span><span>) is an important mariculture species in China. To date, the mechanisms of sex determination and differentiation in sea cucumber remain unclear. Identifying sex-specific molecular markers<span> is an effective method for revealing the genetic basis of sex determination and sex differentiation. In this study, </span></span><em>foxl2</em> and <em>nodal</em> homologous genes were identified in <em>A. japonicus</em>. <em>Foxl2</em> exhibited dynamic and sexually dimorphic expression patterns in the gonads, with prominent expression in the ovaries and minimal expression in the testis according to real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) study. As <em>nodal</em> was specifically expressed in the ovary, it could serve as an ovary-specific marker in sea cucumber. Additionally, knockdown of <em>foxl2</em> or <em>nodal</em> using RNA interference (RNAi) led to the down-regulation of <span><em>piwi</em></span>, <em>germ cell-less</em>, and <em>dmrt1</em>, suggesting that <em>foxl2</em> and <em>nodal</em> may play important roles in gonad maintenance of sea cucumber. Overall, this study adds to our understanding of the roles of <em>foxl2</em> and <em>nodal</em><span> in the gonadal development of </span><em>A. japonicus</em>, which provides further insight into the mechanisms of sea cucumber sex determination and differentiation.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":55598,"journal":{"name":"Gene Expression Patterns","volume":"44 ","pages":"Article 119245"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0000,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"4","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Gene Expression Patterns","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1567133X22000151","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 4
Abstract
Sea cucumber (Apostichopus japonicus) is an important mariculture species in China. To date, the mechanisms of sex determination and differentiation in sea cucumber remain unclear. Identifying sex-specific molecular markers is an effective method for revealing the genetic basis of sex determination and sex differentiation. In this study, foxl2 and nodal homologous genes were identified in A. japonicus. Foxl2 exhibited dynamic and sexually dimorphic expression patterns in the gonads, with prominent expression in the ovaries and minimal expression in the testis according to real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) study. As nodal was specifically expressed in the ovary, it could serve as an ovary-specific marker in sea cucumber. Additionally, knockdown of foxl2 or nodal using RNA interference (RNAi) led to the down-regulation of piwi, germ cell-less, and dmrt1, suggesting that foxl2 and nodal may play important roles in gonad maintenance of sea cucumber. Overall, this study adds to our understanding of the roles of foxl2 and nodal in the gonadal development of A. japonicus, which provides further insight into the mechanisms of sea cucumber sex determination and differentiation.
期刊介绍:
Gene Expression Patterns is devoted to the rapid publication of high quality studies of gene expression in development. Studies using cell culture are also suitable if clearly relevant to development, e.g., analysis of key regulatory genes or of gene sets in the maintenance or differentiation of stem cells. Key areas of interest include:
-In-situ studies such as expression patterns of important or interesting genes at all levels, including transcription and protein expression
-Temporal studies of large gene sets during development
-Transgenic studies to study cell lineage in tissue formation