Abstract

BackgroundAs the critical tissue of the central nervous system, the brain has been found to be involved in gonad development. Previous studies have suggested that gonadal fate may be affected by the brain. Identifying brain-specific molecular changes that occur during estrodiol-17β (E2) -induced feminization is crucial to our understanding of the molecular control of sex differentiation by the brains of fish.ResultsIn this study, the differential transcriptomic responses of the Takifugu rubripes larvae brain were compared after E2 treatment for 55 days. Our results showed that 514 genes were differentially expressed between E2-treated-XX (E-XX) and Control-XX (C-XX) T. rubripes, while 362 genes were differentially expressed between E2-treated-XY (E-XY) and Control-XY (C-XY). For example, the expression of cyp19a1b, gnrh1 and pgr was significantly up-regulated, while st, sl, tshβ, prl and pit-1, which belong to the growth hormone/prolactin family, were significantly down-regulated after E2 treatment, in both sexes. The arntl1, bhlbe, nr1d2, per1b, per3, cry1, cipc and ciart genes, which are involved in the circadian rhythm, were also found to be altered. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs), which were identified between E-XX and C-XX, were significantly enriched in neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, arachidonic acid metabolism, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction and the calcium signaling pathway. The DEGs that were identified between E-XY and C-XY were significantly enriched in tyrosine metabolism, phenylalanine metabolism, arachidonic acid metabolism and linoleic acid metabolism.ConclusionA number of genes and pathways were identified in the brain of E2-treated T. rubripes larvae by RNA-seq. It provided the opportunity for further study on the possible involvement of networks in the brain-pituitary-gonadal axis in sex differentiation in T. rubripes.

Highlights

  • As the critical tissue of the central nervous system, the brain has been found to be involved in gonad development

  • E2 treatment methods have been widely applied to sex ratio control, in with respect to establishing a monosex population to understand the roles of endocrine and genetic factors regulating sex determination and differentiation in academic research [13,14,15,16]

  • This study aimed to identify target genes and pathways that are involved in the development of T. rubripes brains and that responded to E2 administration

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Summary

Introduction

As the critical tissue of the central nervous system, the brain has been found to be involved in gonad development. Sex determination and differentiation are tremendously complex and flexible in fish and the sexual fate of fish has been proven to be affected by exogenous factors (such as social dynamics, temperature, light conditions, density, pH, stress and hormones) [3,4,5,6]. Among those factors, estrogens are conserved and are known to be required for ovarian differentiation and maintenance of the female phenotype [6]. E2 treatment methods have been widely applied to sex ratio control, in with respect to establishing a monosex population to understand the roles of endocrine and genetic factors regulating sex determination and differentiation in academic research [13,14,15,16]

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