Li Shihao, Li Fuhua, Yu Kuijie, Xiang Jianhai
Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China; Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China.
Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China; Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China.
Gene. 2018 Apr 5;649:1-7. doi: 10.1016/j.gene.2018.01.043. Epub 2018 Jan 12.
The doublesex and its homologue genes are important regulators of sexual differentiation which are conserved among animal kingdom. In the present study, we reported a doublesex gene (designated as FcDsx) identified from the Chinese shrimp F. chinensis. The gene structure, nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of FcDsx were characterized. The results showed that the deduced amino acid sequence of FcDsx had the common features of Dsx proteins, including a doublesex/male abnormal 3 (DM) domain, an oligomerization domain and a predicted monopartite nuclear localization signal. The expression patterns of FcDsx in different tissues and developmental stages were detected. FcDsx exhibited a sex-biased expression patterns in different tissues and its expression level increased along with developmental stages. In addition, its regulation on the expression of FcIAG, a gene important for sexual differentiation of male crustacean, was also analyzed. Putative Dsx binding site was identified on the promoter region of FcIAG and knockdown of FcDsx could reduce the expression of FcIAG, which suggested that FcDsx might be the upstream regulator of FcIAG. The present data indicated that FcDsx gene might involve in shrimp sexual differentiation process.
双性基因及其同源基因是动物界保守的性分化重要调节因子。在本研究中，我们报道了从中国对虾凡纳滨对虾中鉴定出的一个双性基因（命名为FcDsx）。对FcDsx的基因结构、核苷酸序列和推导的氨基酸序列进行了表征。结果表明，FcDsx推导的氨基酸序列具有Dsx蛋白的共同特征，包括一个双性/雄性异常3（DM）结构域、一个寡聚化结构域和一个预测的单部分核定位信号。检测了FcDsx在不同组织和发育阶段的表达模式。FcDsx在不同组织中表现出性别偏向的表达模式，其表达水平随发育阶段而增加。此外，还分析了其对雄性甲壳类动物性分化重要基因FcIAG表达的调控。在FcIAG的启动子区域鉴定出假定的Dsx结合位点，敲低FcDsx可降低FcIAG的表达，这表明FcDsx可能是FcIAG的上游调节因子。目前的数据表明，FcDsx基因可能参与对虾的性分化过程。
