ATAC-seq and RNA-seq analysis unravel the mechanism of sex differentiation and infertility in sex reversal chicken.

IF 4.2 2区生物学 Q1 GENETICS & HEREDITY

Epigenetics & Chromatin Pub Date : 2023-01-09 DOI:10.1186/s13072-022-00476-1

Xiuan Zhang, Jianbo Li, Xiqiong Wang, Yuchen Jie, Congjiao Sun, Jiangxia Zheng, Junying Li, Ning Yang, Sirui Chen

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Abstract

Background: Sex determination and differentiation are complex and delicate processes. In female chickens, the process of sex differentiation is sensitive and prone to be affected by the administration of aromatase inhibitors, which result in chicken sex reversal and infertility. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying sex differentiation and infertility in chicken sex reversal remain unclear. Therefore, we established a sex-reversed chicken flock by injecting an aromatase inhibitor, fadrozole, and constructed relatively high-resolution profiles of the gene expression and chromatin accessibility of embryonic gonads.

Results: We revealed that fadrozole affected the transcriptional activities of several genes, such as DMRT1, SOX9, FOXL2, and CYP19A1, related to sex determination and differentiation, and the expression of a set of gonadal development-related genes, such as FGFR3 and TOX3, by regulating nearby open chromatin regions in sex-reversed chicken embryos. After sexual maturity, the sex-reversed chickens were confirmed to be infertile, and the possible causes of this infertility were further investigated. We found that the structure of the gonads and sperm were greatly deformed, and we identified several promising genes related to spermatogenesis and infertility, such as SPEF2, DNAI1, and TACR3, through RNA-seq.

Conclusions: This study provides clear insights into the exploration of potential molecular basis underlying sex differentiation and infertility in sex-reversed chickens and lays a foundation for further research into the sex development of birds.

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ATAC-seq 和 RNA-seq 分析揭示了性别逆转鸡的性别分化和不育机制。

背景介绍性别决定和性别分化是一个复杂而微妙的过程。在雌性鸡中，性别分化过程是敏感的，容易受到芳香化酶抑制剂的影响，从而导致鸡性别逆转和不孕。然而，鸡性别逆转中性别分化和不育的分子机制仍不清楚。因此，我们通过注射芳香化酶抑制剂法卓唑建立了性别逆转鸡群，并构建了相对高分辨率的胚胎性腺基因表达和染色质可及性图谱：结果：我们发现，法卓唑通过调节性别逆转鸡胚胎附近的开放染色质区域，影响了DMRT1、SOX9、FOXL2和CYP19A1等多个与性别决定和分化相关的基因的转录活性，以及FGFR3和TOX3等一组与性腺发育相关的基因的表达。性成熟后，性别逆转的鸡被证实不能生育，我们进一步研究了造成这种不育的可能原因。我们发现性腺和精子的结构发生了很大的畸变，并通过RNA-seq鉴定了几个与精子发生和不育相关的基因，如SPEF2、DNAI1和TACR3：本研究为探索性别逆转鸡性别分化和不育的潜在分子基础提供了清晰的思路，为进一步研究鸟类的性别发育奠定了基础。

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来源期刊

Epigenetics & Chromatin GENETICS & HEREDITY-

CiteScore

7.00

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

1 months

期刊介绍： Epigenetics & Chromatin is a peer-reviewed, open access, online journal that publishes research, and reviews, providing novel insights into epigenetic inheritance and chromatin-based interactions. The journal aims to understand how gene and chromosomal elements are regulated and their activities maintained during processes such as cell division, differentiation and environmental alteration.