Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Coastal Engineering, Zhuhai Key Laboratory of Marine Bioresources and Environment, School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangdong, China.
Sci Rep. 2017 Aug 1;7(1):7055. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-07675-x.
Gametogenesis is a complicated biological process by which sperm and egg are produced for genetic transmission between generations. In many animals, the germline is segregated from the somatic lineage in early embryonic development through the specification of primordial germ cells (PGCs), the precursors of gametes for reproduction and fertility. In some species, such as fruit fly and zebrafish, PGCs are determined by the maternally provided germ plasm which contains various RNAs and proteins. Here, we identified a germ plasm/PGC-specific microRNA miR-202-5p for the first time in zebrafish. MiR-202-5p was specifically expressed in gonad. In female, it was expressed and accumulated in oocytes during oogenesis. Quantitative reverse transcription PCR and whole mount in situ hybridization results indicated that miR-202-5p exhibited a typical germ plasm /PGC-specific expression pattern throughout embryogenesis, which was consistent with that of the PGC marker vasa, indicating that miR-202-5p was a component of germ plasm and a potential PGC marker in zebrafish. Our present study might be served as a foundation for further investigating the regulative roles of miRNAs in germ plasm formation and PGC development in zebrafish and other teleost.
配子发生是一个复杂的生物学过程，通过这个过程，精子和卵子被产生用于世代之间的遗传传递。在许多动物中，生殖细胞系在早期胚胎发育中通过原始生殖细胞（PGC）的特化与体细胞系分离，PGC 是生殖和生育的配子的前体。在某些物种中，如果蝇和斑马鱼，PGC 由母体提供的生殖质决定，生殖质包含各种 RNA 和蛋白质。在这里，我们首次在斑马鱼中鉴定出一种生殖质/PGC 特异性 microRNA miR-202-5p。miR-202-5p 在性腺中特异性表达。在雌性中，它在卵母细胞发生过程中表达并积累。定量逆转录 PCR 和整体原位杂交结果表明，miR-202-5p 在整个胚胎发生过程中表现出典型的生殖质/PGC 特异性表达模式，与 PGC 标记 vasa 一致，表明 miR-202-5p 是生殖质的组成部分，也是斑马鱼中潜在的 PGC 标记。我们的研究结果可能为进一步研究 miRNA 在生殖质形成和 PGC 发育中的调控作用奠定基础，无论是在斑马鱼还是其他硬骨鱼中。
