Key Laboratory of Healthy Mariculture for the East China Sea, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Fisheries College, Jimei University, Xiamen, China.
J Fish Biol. 2022 Jan;100(1):15-24. doi: 10.1111/jfb.14913. Epub 2021 Oct 4.
Sox genes encode transcription factors with a high-mobility group (HMG) box, playing critical roles in the initiation and maintenance of a variety of developmental processes, such as sex determination and differentiation. In the present study, we identified 26 Sox genes in the genome of spinyhead croaker Collichthys lucidus (Richardson, 1844) with homology-based analysis of the HMG box. The transcriptome-based expression profiles revealed that the expression of the Sox gene in gonads began to differ between sexes when the body length was 2.74 ± 0.24 cm. At that time, three Sox genes (Sox11b, Sox8a and Sox19) were significantly upregulated, accompanied by the downregulation of 12 Sox genes in the ovary, and six Sox genes were temporarily significantly upregulated in the testis. Afterwards, the expression profile of Sox genes changed only with a small amplitude in both the ovary and testis. For adult tissues, huge differences were observed in the expression profiles of Sox genes between ovaries and testes, as well as small differences in somatic tissues between sexes. These results provide clues to further decipher the role of Sox genes in the processes of sex determination and differentiation in spinyhead croaker and other teleosts.
Sox 基因编码具有高迁移率族（HMG）盒的转录因子，在启动和维持多种发育过程中发挥着关键作用，如性别决定和分化。在本研究中，我们通过同源性分析 HMG 盒，在棘头梅童鱼（Collichthys lucidus）基因组中鉴定出 26 个 Sox 基因。基于转录组的表达谱显示，当体长为 2.74±0.24cm 时，性腺中 Sox 基因的表达开始在雌雄间出现差异。此时，三个 Sox 基因（Sox11b、Sox8a 和 Sox19）显著上调，伴随着卵巢中 12 个 Sox 基因下调，以及睾丸中 6 个 Sox 基因暂时显著上调。之后，卵巢和睾丸中 Sox 基因的表达谱仅出现小幅度变化。对于成年组织，卵巢和睾丸之间 Sox 基因的表达谱存在巨大差异，而雌雄间体组织之间存在较小差异。这些结果为进一步解析 Sox 基因在棘头梅童鱼和其他硬骨鱼性别决定和分化过程中的作用提供了线索。
