Dataset Information

Gene Expression Profiling Reveals Potential Players of Sex Determination and Asymmetrical Development in Chicken Embryo Gonads.

ABSTRACT: Despite the notable progress made in recent years, the understanding of the genetic control of gonadal sex differentiation and asymmetrical ovariogenesis in chicken during embryonic development remains incomplete. This study aimed to identify potential key genes and speculate about the mechanisms associated with ovary and testis development via an analysis of the results of PacBio and Illumina transcriptome sequencing of embryonic chicken gonads at the initiation of sexual differentiation (E4.5, E5.5, and E6.5). PacBio sequencing detected 328 and 233 significantly up-regulated transcript isoforms in females and males at E4.5, respectively. Illumina sequencing detected 95, 296 and 445 DEGs at E4.5, E5.5, and E6.5, respectively. Moreover, both sexes showed asymmetrical expression in gonads, and more DEGs were detected on the left side. There were 12 DEGs involved in cell proliferation shared between males and females in the left gonads. GO analysis suggested that coagulation pathways may be involved in the degradation of the right gonad in females and that blood oxygen transport pathways may be involved in preventing the degradation of the right gonad in males. These results provide a comprehensive expression profile of chicken embryo gonads at the initiation of sexual differentiation, which can serve as a theoretical basis for further understanding the mechanism of bird sex determination and its evolutionary process.

SUBMITTER: Luo H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10572726 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Gene Expression Profiling Reveals Potential Players of Sex Determination and Asymmetrical Development in Chicken Embryo Gonads.

Luo Huaixi H Zhou Hao H Jiang Shengyao S He Chuan C Xu Ke K Ding Jinmei J Liu Jiajia J Qin Chao C Chen Kangchun K Zhou Wenchuan W Wang Liyuan L Yang Wenhao W Zhu Wenqi W Meng He H

International journal of molecular sciences 20230927 19

Despite the notable progress made in recent years, the understanding of the genetic control of gonadal sex differentiation and asymmetrical ovariogenesis in chicken during embryonic development remains incomplete. This study aimed to identify potential key genes and speculate about the mechanisms associated with ovary and testis development via an analysis of the results of PacBio and Illumina transcriptome sequencing of embryonic chicken gonads at the initiation of sexual differentiation (E4.5, ...[more]

PMID: 37834055

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Project description:BackgroundIn birds as in mammals, a genetic switch determines whether the undifferentiated gonad develops into an ovary or a testis. However, understanding of the molecular pathway(s) involved in gonad differentiation is still incomplete.Methodology/principal findingsWith the aim of improving characterization of the molecular pathway(s) involved in gonad differentiation in the chicken embryo, we developed a large scale real time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction approach on 110 selected genes for evaluation of their expression profiles during chicken gonad differentiation between days 5.5 and 19 of incubation. Hierarchical clustering analysis of the resulting datasets discriminated gene clusters expressed preferentially in the ovary or the testis, and/or at early or later periods of embryonic gonad development. Fitting a linear model and testing the comparisons of interest allowed the identification of new potential actors of gonad differentiation, such as Z-linked ADAMTS12, LOC427192 (corresponding to NIM1 protein) and CFC1, that are upregulated in the developing testis, and BMP3 and Z-linked ADAMTSL1, that are preferentially expressed in the developing ovary. Interestingly, the expression patterns of several members of the transforming growth factor β family were sexually dimorphic, with inhibin subunits upregulated in the testis, and bone morphogenetic protein subfamily members including BMP2, BMP3, BMP4 and BMP7, upregulated in the ovary. This study also highlighted several genes displaying asymmetric expression profiles such as GREM1 and BMP3 that are potentially involved in different aspects of gonad left-right asymmetry.Conclusion/significanceThis study supports the overall conservation of vertebrate sex differentiation pathways but also reveals some particular feature of gene expression patterns during gonad development in the chicken. In particular, our study revealed new candidate genes which may be potential actors of chicken gonad differentiation and provides evidence of the preferential expression of BMPs in the developing ovary and Inhibin/Activin subunits in the developing testis.

Project description:BackgroundIn chickens, as in most birds, female gonad morphogenesis is asymmetrical. Gonads appear first rather similarly, but only the left one undergoes full differentiation and gives rise to a functional ovary. The right gonad, in which the cortex does not develop, remains restricted to the medulla and finally regresses. Opportunity was taken of this left-right asymmetry to perform a suppression subtractive hybridization screening to select for transcripts preferentially expressed in the developing left ovary as compared to the right one, and thus identify genes that are potentially involved in the process of ovarian differentiation.ResultsOne of these transcripts, named Ovex1 according to its expression profile, corresponds to an endogenous retrovirus that has not been previously characterized. It is transcribed as full-length and singly spliced mRNAs and contains three uninterrupted open reading frames coding potentially for proteins with homology to Gag and Pro-Pol retroviral polyproteins and a third protein showing only a weak similarity with Env glycoproteins. Ovex1 is severely degenerated; it is devoid of typical long terminal repeats and displays some evidence of recombination. An orthologous Ovex1 locus was identified in the genome of zebra finch, a member of a different bird order, and similar sequences were detected in turkey, guinea fowl, and duck DNA. The relationship between these sequences follows the bird phylogeny, suggesting vertical transmission of the endogenous retrovirus for more than 100 million years. Ovex1 is transcribed in chicken gonads with a sex-dependent and left-right asymmetrical pattern. It is first expressed in the cortex of the left indifferent gonads of both sexes. Expression is transient in the left testis and absent in the right one. In developing ovaries, Ovex1 transcription increases sharply in the left cortex and is weakly detected in the medulla. After folliculogenesis, Ovex1-expressing cells constitute the follicular granulosa cell layer. Ovex1 expression highlights a striking desquamation process that leads to profound cortical remodeling associated with follicle morphogenesis.ConclusionEvidence for a selection pressure at the protein level suggests that this endogenous retrovirus, expressed in the ovarian supporting cell lineage, might play an active role in bird ovarian physiology.

Dataset Information

Gene Expression Profiling Reveals Potential Players of Sex Determination and Asymmetrical Development in Chicken Embryo Gonads.

Publications

Gene Expression Profiling Reveals Potential Players of Sex Determination and Asymmetrical Development in Chicken Embryo Gonads.

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