Identification and Characterization of the DMRT11E Gene in the Oriental River Prawn Macrobrachium nipponense.

Wenyi Zhang,Sufei Jiang,Yabing Wang,Yan Wu,Hongtuo Fu,Yiwei Xiong,Yongsheng Gong,Hui Qiao,Shengming Sun,Shubo Jin

doi:10.3390/ijms20071734

Abstract

The doublesex and mab-3 related transcription factor (DMRT) gene family involvement in sex development is widely conserved from invertebrates to humans. In this study, we identified a DM (Doublesex/Mab-3)-domain gene in Macrobrachium nipponense, which we named MniDMRT11E because it has many similarities to and phylogenetically close relationships with the arthropod DMRT11E. Amino acid alignments and structural prediction uncovered conservation and putative active sites of the DM domain. Real-time PCR analysis showed that the MniDMRT11E was highly expressed in the ovary and testis in both males and females. Cellular localization analysis showed that DMRT11E was mainly located in the oocytes of the ovary and the spermatocyte of the testis. During embryogenesis, the expression level of MniDMRT11E was higher at the cleavage stage than at other stages. During the different stages of ovarian development, MniDMRT11E expression gradually increased from OI to OIII and decreased to the lowest level at the end of OIV. The results indicated that MniDMRT11E probably played important roles in embryonic development and sex maturity in M. nipponense. MniDMRT11E dsRNA injection also significantly reduced vitellogenin (VG) expression and significantly increased insulin-like androgenic gland factor (IAG) expression, indicating a close relationship in gonad development.

Highlights

The oriental river prawn, Macrobrachium nipponense, is an economically important freshwater prawn and is widely farmed in China, with an annual production of almost 240,739 tons in 2017 [1]
Blast searches showed that the protein structure of MniDMRT11E was similar to that of the following species: Macrobrachium rosenbergii (DMRT11E, 93%), Sagmariasus verreauxi (DMRT11E, 76%), Daphnia magna (DMRT11E, 53%), Amazona aIents.tJ.ivMaol.(SDci.M201R9,T220, x4F8O%R )P,EEaRnRdEVFIEuWndulus heteroclitus (DMRT2, 47%)
The expression levels were analyzed in adult prawn tissues by qPCR, and the results showed that MniDMRT11E mRNA was distributed in all tissues (Figure 4)

Summary

Introduction

The oriental river prawn, Macrobrachium nipponense, is an economically important freshwater prawn and is widely farmed in China, with an annual production of almost 240,739 tons in 2017 [1]. Male oriental river prawns grow faster than females. The average size of the male commodity is 2-2.5 times that of females. All male cultures will help to increase yields and economic value. The development of an all-male culture in M. nipponense is based on sexual control technology. It is important to identity sex-determining genes and their regulatory mechanism

Methods

Results

Conclusion