Dataset Information

Epigenetic control of gonadal aromatase (cyp19a1) in temperature-dependent sex determination of red-eared slider turtles.

ABSTRACT: In the red-eared slider turtle (Trachemys scripta), a species with temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD), the expression of the aromatase gene during gonad development is strictly limited to the female-producing temperature. The underlying mechanism remains unknown. In this study, we identified the upstream 5'-flanking region of the aromatase gene, gonad-specific promoter, and the temperature-dependent DNA methylation signatures during gonad development in the red-eared slider turtle. The 5'-flanking region of the slider aromatase exhibited sequence similarities to the aromatase genes of the American alligator, chicken, quail, and zebra finch. A putative TATA box was located 31 bp upstream of the gonad-specific transcription start site. DNA methylation at the CpG sites between the putative binding sites of the fork head domain factor (FOX) and vertebrate steroidogenic factor 1 (SF1) and adjacent TATA box in the promoter region were significantly lower in embryonic gonads at the female-producing temperature compared the male-producing temperature. A shift from male- to female-, but not from female- to male-, producing temperature changed the level of DNA methylation in gonads. Taken together these results indicate that the temperature, particularly female-producing temperature, allows demethylation at the specific CpG sites of the promoter region which leads the temperature-specific expression of aromatase during gonad development.

SUBMITTER: Matsumoto Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3676416 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Epigenetic control of gonadal aromatase (cyp19a1) in temperature-dependent sex determination of red-eared slider turtles.

Matsumoto Yuiko Y Buemio Alvin A Chu Randy R Vafaee Mozhgon M Crews David D

PloS one 20130607 6

In the red-eared slider turtle (Trachemys scripta), a species with temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD), the expression of the aromatase gene during gonad development is strictly limited to the female-producing temperature. The underlying mechanism remains unknown. In this study, we identified the upstream 5'-flanking region of the aromatase gene, gonad-specific promoter, and the temperature-dependent DNA methylation signatures during gonad development in the red-eared slider turtle. Th ...[more]

PMID: 23762231

Similar Datasets

Project description:The environment surrounding the embryos has a profound impact on the developmental process and phenotypic outcomes of the organism. In species with temperature-dependent sex determination, gonadal sex is determined by the incubation temperature of the eggs. A mechanistic link between temperature and transcriptional regulation of developmental genes, however, remains elusive. In this study, we examine the changes in DNA methylation and histone modification patterns of the aromatase (cyp19a1) gene in embryonic gonads of red-eared slider turtles (Trachemys scripta) subjected to a temperature shift during development. Shifting embryos from a male-producing temperature (MPT) to a female-producing temperature (FPT) at the beginning of the temperature-sensitive period (TSP) resulted in an increase in aromatase mRNA expression while a shift from FPT to MPT resulted in decreased expression. DNA methylation levels at CpG sites in the promoter of the aromatase gene were high (70-90%) at the beginning of TSP, but decreased in embryos that were incubated at constant FPT and those shifted from MPT to the FPT. This decrease in methylation in the promoter inversely correlated with the expected increase in aromatase expression at the FPT. The active demethylation under the FPT was especially prominent at the CpG site upstream of the gonad-specific TATA box at the beginning of TSP and spread downstream of the gene including exon1 as the gonad development progressed. In embryos incubated at FPT, the promoter region was also labeled by canonical transcriptional activation markers, H3K4me3 and RNA polymerase II. A transcriptional repression marker, H3K27me3, was observed in temperature-shifted gonads of both temperature groups, but was not maintained throughout the development in either group. Our findings suggest that DNA hypomethylation and H3K4me3 modification at the aromatase promoter may be a primary mechanism that releases a transcriptional block of aromatase to initiate a cascade of ovarian differentiation.

Dataset Information

Epigenetic control of gonadal aromatase (cyp19a1) in temperature-dependent sex determination of red-eared slider turtles.

Publications

Epigenetic control of gonadal aromatase (cyp19a1) in temperature-dependent sex determination of red-eared slider turtles.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets