Dataset Information

Temperature dependent sex determination in the turtle Trachemys scripta

ABSTRACT: Sex determination is the process by which and original bipotential gonad differentiate into either a testis or ovaries. While mammals and birds determine their sex solely by genetic clues (genetic sex determination, GSD), other vertebrates like the turtle Trachemys scripta are influenced by environmental factors, like temperature (environmental sex determination, ESD). In both cases an initially bipotential gonad develops into either testes or ovaries in response to GSD or ESD cues. In order to shed light into the differences and similarities between sex determination systems we performed single-cell RNA-seq on Trachemys scripta developing gonads during the sex determination window.

ORGANISM(S): Trachemys scripta elegans

PROVIDER: GSE271230 | GEO | 2024/12/30

REPOSITORIES: GEO

ACCESS DATA

Dataset's files

Source:

			Action	DRS
		Other

Items per page:

1 - 1 of 1

Similar Datasets

Project description:BACKGROUND: Gonadal sex determination (GSD) in humans is a complex biological process that takes place in early stages of embryonic development when the bipotential gonadal primordium (BGP) differentiates towards testes or ovaries. This decision is directed by one of two distinct pathways embedded in a GSD network activated in a population of coelomic epithelial cells, the Sertoli progenitor cells (SPC) and the granulosa progenitor cells (GPC). In males, the pathway is activated when the Sex-Determining Region Y (SRY) gene starts to be expressed, whereas in females the WNT4/ -catenin pathway promotes the differentiation of the GPCs towards ovaries. The interactions and dynamics of the elements that constitute the GSD network are poorly understood, thus our group is interested in inferring the general architecture of this network as well as modeling the dynamic behavior of a set of genes associated to this process under wild-type and mutant conditions. METHODS: We reconstructed the regulatory network of GSD with a set of genes directly associated with the process of differentiation from SPC and GPC towards Sertoli and granulosa cells, respectively. These genes are experimentally well-characterized and the effects of their deficiency have been clinically reported. We modeled this GSD network as a synchronous Boolean network model (BNM) and characterized its attractors under wild-type and mutant conditions. RESULTS: Three attractors with a clear biological meaning were found; one of them corresponding to the currently known gene expression pattern of Sertoli cells, the second correlating to the granulosa cells and, the third resembling a disgenetic gonad. CONCLUSIONS: The BNM of GSD that we present summarizes the experimental data on the pathways for Sertoli and granulosa establishment and sheds light on the overall behavior of a population of cells that differentiate within the developing gonad. With this model we propose a set of regulatory interactions needed to activate either the SRY or the WNT4/ -catenin pathway as well as their downstream targets, which are critical for further sex differentiation. In addition, we observed a pattern of altered regulatory interactions and their dynamics that lead to some disorders of sex development (DSD).

Dataset Information

Temperature dependent sex determination in the turtle Trachemys scripta

Dataset's files

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets