Abstract
Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis), a critically endangered Acipenseridae family member, is one of the largest anadromous, native fish in China. Numerous research programmes and protection agencies have focused on breeding and preserving this endangered species. However, available information is limited on the different stages of sex development, especially on the reproductive regulation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonad (HPG) axis of A. sinensis. To unravel the mechanism of gene interactions during sex differentiation and gonad development of A. sinensis, we performed transcriptome sequencing using HPG samples from male and female A. sinensis in two developmental stages. In this study, 271.19 Gb high-quality transcriptome data were obtained from 45 samples belonging to 15 individuals (six in stage I, six males and three females in stage II). These transcriptomic data will help us understand the reproductive regulation of the HPG axis in the development stages of A. sinensis and provide important reference data for genomic and genetic studies in A. sinensis and related species.
Highlights
Background & SummaryThe order Acipenseriformes comprises 27 extant species of sturgeons, which are considered “living fossils” with a fossil record dating back to the upper Cretaceous[1,2]
Individuals of A. sinensis used here were selected from the artificial breeding population of the Chinese Sturgeon Research Institute, China Three Gorges Corporation (Yichang, China)
The sex cannot be distinguished by a histochemical assay for gonads in stage I, while it can be distinguished in stage II in A. sinensis
Summary
The order Acipenseriformes comprises 27 extant species of sturgeons, which are considered “living fossils” with a fossil record dating back to the upper Cretaceous[1,2]. Identifying the sex determination mechanism of A. sinensis only by analysing genes in gonad tissues is not possible. The regulation of multiple tissues, signals and genes must be considered to unveil the mechanism of sex differentiation and discover sexual markers. We identified 1,531 to 34,439 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in 18 pairwise comparisons of HPG samples of male and female A. sinensis in two stages. We reported the first integrated transcriptome data from HPG samples of male and female A. sinensis in stage I and II of gonadal development. These data offer valuable resources for research into reproductive regulation and the HPG axis interaction in A. sinensis and other sturgeons
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