Takahashi-Kariyazono Shiho, Iguchi Akira, Terai Yohey
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Geological Survey of Japan, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
Research Center for Integrative Evolutionary Science, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Shonan Village, Hayama, Kanagawa, Japan.
BMC Ecol Evol. 2025 Sep 1;25(1):88. doi: 10.1186/s12862-025-02432-5.
Marine invertebrates release their gametes at an optimal time to produce the next generation. In reef-building scleractinian corals, synchronous spawning is essential for reproductive success. Molecular mechanisms of scleractinian gametogenesis have been studied; however, the mechanism by which coral gametes mature at specific times has yet to be discovered. The present study focused on two Acropora species with different spawning seasons. In Okinawa, Japan, Acropora digitifera spawns from May to June, whereas Acropora sp. 1 spawns in August. Comparative genomic analyses revealed that 60 genes are located in the diverged genomic regions between the two species, suggesting a possible association with timing of gametogenesis. Among candidate genes, we identified an Acropora sp. 1-specific amino acid change in gene WDR59, one of the components of a mTORC1 activator, GATOR2. Since regulation of gametogenesis by mTORC1 is widely conserved among eukaryotes, the difference in timing of gamete maturation observed in the two Acropora species may be caused by a substitution in WDR59 that slightly affects timing of mTORC1 activation via GATOR2. In addition, this substitution may lead to reproductive isolation between the two species, due to different spawning periods. Thus, we propose that A. digitifera and Acropora sp. 1 species pair is an effective model for studying coral speciation and understanding the molecular mechanisms that control coral spawning timing.
海洋无脊椎动物在最佳时间释放配子以繁衍下一代。在造礁石珊瑚中,同步产卵对于繁殖成功至关重要。石珊瑚配子发生的分子机制已得到研究;然而,珊瑚配子在特定时间成熟的机制尚未被发现。本研究聚焦于两种具有不同产卵季节的鹿角珊瑚物种。在日本冲绳,指状鹿角珊瑚在5月至6月产卵,而鹿角珊瑚物种1在8月产卵。比较基因组分析表明,60个基因位于这两个物种之间的分化基因组区域,这表明它们可能与配子发生的时间有关。在候选基因中,我们在基因WDR59中发现了一种鹿角珊瑚物种1特有的氨基酸变化,WDR59是mTORC1激活剂GATOR2的组成部分之一。由于mTORC1对配子发生的调控在真核生物中广泛保守,在这两种鹿角珊瑚物种中观察到的配子成熟时间差异可能是由WDR59中的一个替代导致的,该替代通过GATOR2对mTORC1激活时间产生轻微影响。此外,由于产卵期不同,这种替代可能导致这两个物种之间的生殖隔离。因此,我们认为指状鹿角珊瑚和鹿角珊瑚物种1是研究珊瑚物种形成以及理解控制珊瑚产卵时间分子机制的有效模型。
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