Spatiotemporal Expression of Foxl2 and Dmrt1 before, during, and after Sex Determination in the Sea Turtle Lepidochelys olivacea

Abstract

The sex of sea turtles is determined by temperature during egg incubation. Thus, climate change affects the sex ratio, exacerbating their vulnerability to extinction. Understanding spatiotemporal effects of temperature on sex determination at the gonadal level may facilitate the design of strategies to mitigate the effects of global warming. Here, we used qRT-PCR and immunofluorescence to analyze the spatiotemporal expression of Dmrt1 and Foxl2 in developing gonads of Lepidochelys olivacea incubated at male-producing temperature (MPT, 26°C) or female-producing temperature (FPT, 33°C). Although both transcription factors are expressed in bipotential gonads up to stage 25, the timing of their sexually dimorphic regulation differs. Whereas the dimorphic expression of Dmrt1 protein initiates at stage 24, Foxl2 protein was expressed specifically in females at stage 25. Interestingly, whereas Dmrt1 colocalizes with Sox9 in cell nuclei of primary medullary cords to form the testis cords, Foxl2 protein is first detected in Sox9-negative cells of primary medullary cords, prior to its substantial expression in the ovarian cortex. Thus, results suggest that the temperature-dependent regulation of sexual pathways is stochastic among the cells of primary medullary cords in undifferentiated bipotential gonads of the olive ridley.