Department of Life Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O.B. 653, Beer-5 Sheva 84105, Israel.
Department of Life Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O.B. 653, Beer-5 Sheva 84105, Israel; National Institute for Biotechnology in the Negev, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O.B. 653, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel.
Gen Comp Endocrinol. 2019 Oct 1;282:113205. doi: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2019.06.009. Epub 2019 Jun 12.
The doublesex and mab-3 related transcription factor (Dmrt) gene family is known to be related to the sexual regulators doublesex of arthropods and mab-3 of annelids and to hold highly conserved functions in sexual determination and differentiation across phyla. Here, we report a study of the Dmrt gene family in the freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii, a crustacean whose sexual differentiation has been widely researched. A wide transcriptomic screen, from the embryo to the adult M. rosenbergii, identified five novel Dmrt genes (MroDmrts) and confirmed two known MroDmrts. The seven MroDmrts encode proteins of 275-855 amino acids; each protein contained at least one conserved DNA-binding DM domain, which is typical of Dmrt proteins, and five proteins contained 1-4 transactivation domains (TADs). Importantly, in the embryonic, larval and post-larval stages, MroDmrt genes exhibited time-dependent expression patterns rather than sex-specific expression. In-silico screening of the expression of the MroDmrt genes in adult males revealed the enrichment of MroiDmrt1b and MroiDmrt1c in the androgenic gland (AG) as compared to the eyestalks. In vivo silencing of the androgenic gland insulin-like (IAG) encoding gene significantly decreased the expression of the above two Dmrt genes, while not affecting the expression of control genes, thereby suggesting the possible role of these two genes in the IAG-switch and in sex-differentiation processes.
双性和 mab-3 相关转录因子 (Dmrt) 基因家族与昆虫的性调节因子 doublesex 和环节动物的 mab-3 有关，并在门之间的性决定和分化中具有高度保守的功能。在这里，我们研究了淡水虾 Macrobrachium rosenbergii 的 Dmrt 基因家族，该虾的性分化已得到广泛研究。从胚胎到成年罗氏沼虾的广泛转录组筛选鉴定了五个新的 Dmrt 基因 (MroDmrts)，并证实了两个已知的 MroDmrts。这七个 MroDmrts 编码 275-855 个氨基酸的蛋白质；每个蛋白质至少包含一个保守的 DNA 结合 DM 结构域，这是 Dmrt 蛋白的典型特征，其中五个蛋白质包含 1-4 个转录激活结构域 (TAD)。重要的是，在胚胎、幼虫和幼体阶段，MroDmrt 基因表现出与时间相关的表达模式，而不是性别特异性表达。在成年雄性中对 MroDmrt 基因表达的计算机筛选显示，与眼柄相比，MroiDmrt1b 和 MroiDmrt1c 在雄激素腺 (AG) 中富集。体内沉默雄激素腺胰岛素样 (IAG) 编码基因显著降低了上述两个 Dmrt 基因的表达，而不影响对照基因的表达，这表明这两个基因可能在 IAG 开关和性别分化过程中发挥作用。
