Department of Brain Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
Department of Molecular Neuroscience, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
Nat Commun. 2024 May 20;15(1):4273. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-48369-z.
Sex-specific traits and behaviors emerge during development by the acquisition of unique properties in the nervous system of each sex. However, the genetic events responsible for introducing these sex-specific features remain poorly understood. In this study, we create a comprehensive gene expression atlas of pure populations of hermaphrodites and males of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans across development. We discover numerous differentially expressed genes, including neuronal gene families like transcription factors, neuropeptides, and G protein-coupled receptors. We identify INS-39, an insulin-like peptide, as a prominent male-biased gene expressed specifically in ciliated sensory neurons. We show that INS-39 serves as an early-stage male marker, facilitating the effective isolation of males in high-throughput experiments. Through complex and sex-specific regulation, ins-39 plays pleiotropic sexually dimorphic roles in various behaviors, while also playing a shared, dimorphic role in early life stress. This study offers a comparative sexual and developmental gene expression database for C. elegans. Furthermore, it highlights conserved genes that may underlie the sexually dimorphic manifestation of different human diseases.
性特化的特征和行为是在性别的神经系统获得独特的特性后在发育过程中出现的。然而，导致出现这些性特化特征的遗传事件仍知之甚少。在这项研究中，我们创建了秀丽隐杆线虫纯合雌雄同体和雄性个体发育过程中全面的基因表达图谱。我们发现了许多差异表达的基因，包括转录因子、神经肽和 G 蛋白偶联受体等神经元基因家族。我们鉴定出胰岛素样肽 INS-39 是一种在纤毛感觉神经元中特异性表达的显著雄性偏倚基因。我们表明 INS-39 可作为早期雄性标记物，有助于在高通量实验中有效分离雄性。通过复杂和特化的调控，ins-39 在各种行为中发挥着多效性的性别二态作用，同时在早期生命应激中也发挥着共享的、二态性的作用。这项研究为秀丽隐杆线虫提供了一个比较性的性和发育基因表达数据库。此外，它还强调了可能是不同人类疾病性别二态表现基础的保守基因。
