Pradhan Ajay, Olsson Per-Erik
Biology, The Life Science Center, School of Science and Technology, Örebro University, SE-701 82 Örebro, Sweden.
Biology, The Life Science Center, School of Science and Technology, Örebro University, SE-701 82 Örebro, Sweden.
Gen Comp Endocrinol. 2018 Sep 1;265:15-21. doi: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2018.02.001. Epub 2018 Feb 3.
Zebrafish sex differentiation is under the control of multiple genes, but also relies on germ cell number for gonadal development. Morpholino and chemical mediated germ cell depletion leads to sterile male development in zebrafish. In this study we produced sterile males, using a dead end gene morpholino, to determine gonadal-brain interactions. Germ cell depletion following dnd inhibition downregulated the germ cell markers, vasa and ziwi, and later the larvae developed as sterile males. Despite lacking proper testis, the gonadal 11-ketotestosterone (11-KT) and estradiol (E2) levels of sterile males were similar to wild type males. Qualitative analysis of sexual behavior of sterile males demonstrated that they behaved like wild type males. Furthermore, we observed that brain 11-KT and E2 levels in sterile males remained the same as in the wild type males. In female brain, 11-KT was lower in comparison to wild type males and sterile males, while E2 was higher when compared to wild type males. qRT-PCR analysis revealed that the liver transcript profile of sterile adult males was similar to wild type males while the brain transcript profile was similar to wild type females. The results demonstrate that proper testis development may not be a prerequisite for male brain development in zebrafish but that it may be needed to fully masculinize the brain.
斑马鱼的性别分化受多个基因控制，但性腺发育也依赖于生殖细胞数量。吗啉代寡核苷酸和化学介导的生殖细胞耗竭会导致斑马鱼发育为不育雄鱼。在本研究中，我们使用一种无义基因吗啉代寡核苷酸产生不育雄鱼，以确定性腺与脑之间的相互作用。在dnd抑制后生殖细胞耗竭下调了生殖细胞标记物vasa和ziwi，随后幼虫发育为不育雄鱼。尽管缺乏正常的睾丸，但不育雄鱼的性腺11-酮睾酮（11-KT）和雌二醇（E2）水平与野生型雄鱼相似。对不育雄鱼性行为的定性分析表明，它们的行为与野生型雄鱼相似。此外，我们观察到不育雄鱼脑中的11-KT和E2水平与野生型雄鱼相同。在雌鱼脑中，11-KT水平低于野生型雄鱼和不育雄鱼，而E2水平高于野生型雄鱼。qRT-PCR分析显示，不育成年雄鱼的肝脏转录谱与野生型雄鱼相似，而脑转录谱与野生型雌鱼相似。结果表明，正常的睾丸发育可能不是斑马鱼雄性脑发育的先决条件，但可能需要睾丸发育来使脑完全雄性化。
