scholarly journals Stress, novel sex genes and epigenetic reprogramming orchestrate socially-controlled sex change

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica V Todd ◽  
Oscar Ortega-Recalde ◽  
Hui Liu ◽  
Melissa S Lamm ◽  
Kim M Rutherford ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Process ◽  
Sex Change ◽  
Epigenetic Reprogramming ◽  
Stress Axis ◽  
Specific Gene ◽  
Gene Encoding ◽  
Epigenetic Machinery ◽  
Male Sex ◽  
Early Developmental ◽  
Epigenomic Reprogramming

AbstractBluehead wrasses undergo dramatic, socially-cued female to male sex change. We apply transcriptomic and methylome approaches in this wild coral reef fish to identify the primary trigger and subsequent molecular cascade of gonadal metamorphosis. Our data suggest that the environmental stimulus is exerted via the stress axis, that repression of the aromatase gene (encoding the enzyme converting androgens to estrogens) triggers a cascaded collapse of feminizing gene expression, and identifies notable sex-specific gene neofunctionalization. Furthermore, sex change involves distinct epigenetic reprogramming and an intermediate state with altered epigenetic machinery expression akin to the early developmental cells of mammals. These findings reveal at a molecular level how a normally committed developmental process remains plastic and is reversed to completely alter organ structures.One Sentence SummaryOvary to testis transformation in a sex-changing fish involves transcriptomic and epigenomic reprogramming.

scholarly journals Stress, novel sex genes, and epigenetic reprogramming orchestrate socially controlled sex change

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (7) ◽  
pp. eaaw7006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica V. Todd ◽  
Oscar Ortega-Recalde ◽  
Hui Liu ◽  
Melissa S. Lamm ◽  
Kim M. Rutherford ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Process ◽  
Molecular Level ◽  
Sex Change ◽  
Epigenetic Reprogramming ◽  
Stress Axis ◽  
Specific Gene ◽  
Gene Encoding ◽  
Epigenetic Machinery ◽  
Male Sex ◽  
Early Developmental

Bluehead wrasses undergo dramatic, socially cued female-to-male sex change. We apply transcriptomic and methylome approaches in this wild coral reef fish to identify the primary trigger and subsequent molecular cascade of gonadal metamorphosis. Our data suggest that the environmental stimulus is exerted via the stress axis and that repression of the aromatase gene (encoding the enzyme converting androgens to estrogens) triggers a cascaded collapse of feminizing gene expression and identifies notable sex-specific gene neofunctionalization. Furthermore, sex change involves distinct epigenetic reprogramming and an intermediate state with altered epigenetic machinery expression akin to the early developmental cells of mammals. These findings reveal at a molecular level how a normally committed developmental process remains plastic and is reversed to completely alter organ structures.

scholarly journals The detection of female cell activity in male sex chromosome chimeric Rideau Arcott sheep, using the Xist gene product as a marker

SURG Journal ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 20-25
Author(s):  
Okimi Peters ◽  
W. Allan King
Keyword(s):  
Y Chromosome ◽  
Sex Chromosome ◽  
Cell Activity ◽  
Xist Gene ◽  
Specific Gene ◽  
Xist Expression ◽  
Female Cell ◽  
Male Sex ◽  
Polymerase Chain ◽  
Xy Female

The detection of the SRY (Sex-determining region on the Y chromosome) gene is a popular method used for the identification of freemartins (XX/XY female chimeras). This method relies on the fact that the SRY gene is a Y chromosome specific gene and is thus normally only present in males therefore detecting its presence in a female indicates the presence of male cells (XY cells) within the female. This concept can be extrapolated to the male counterparts of freemartins with regards to the Xist gene. This gene is normally only widely expressed in females and can be used as a marker for identifying females. Therefore, detecting Xist gene expression in males (in tissues other than the testes, as the Xist gene is expressed exclusively in the testes of males) may indicate that these males contain transcriptionally competent female cells and thus necessarily labels them as sex-chromosome chimeras. In the present study four previously identified male sex chromosome chimeras were screened for the expression of the Xist gene using reverse transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), and it was detected in three of the four chimeras. Xist expression was not detected in one of the chimeras because the proportion of female cells in its blood is significantly low and thus it is likely that the blood sample used in the study did not possess female cells. None-the-less it was concluded that the detection of Xist expression in male sex chromosome chimeras can be used as an indication of the presence and transcriptional competence of female cells within them.

Molecular characterization of a phloem-specific gene encoding the filament protein, Phloem Protein 1 (PP1), from Cucurbita maxima

1997 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna M. Clark ◽  
Karin R. Jacobsen ◽  
Dwight E. Bostwick ◽  
Joanne M. Dannenhoffer ◽  
Megan I. Skaggs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Characterization ◽  
Specific Gene ◽  
Cucurbita Maxima ◽  
Gene Encoding ◽  
Phloem Protein ◽  
Filament Protein

Reproduction in Australian Pearl Oysters (Lamellibranchia). III. Pinctada albina (Lamarck): Breeding Season and Sexuality

1958 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 191 ◽  
Author(s):  
DJ Tranter
Keyword(s):  
Germ Cell ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
Marine Invertebrates ◽  
Sex Change ◽  
The Body ◽  
General Tendency ◽  
Food Reserve ◽  
Pearl Oysters ◽  
Male Sex

Plnctada albina breeds continuously throughout the year, but most actively during April and May when sea temperatures begin to fall. Thus the species resembles the majority of tropical marine invertebrates in the former respect but differs from them in the latter. The heaviest spatfalls occur from June to August when sea temperatures are at a minimum. This species is hermaphrodite, with a, general tendency toward protandry. Both male-female and female-male sex changes, and the bisexual condition which sometimes prevails during change-over, have been observed. Sex change in bivalves is discussed, and it is suggested that the phenomenon can best be explained in terms of a weak hereditary sex-determining mechanism, and germ cell rudiments responsive to the food reserve level in the body such that male differentiation is favoured at lower levels and female differentiation at higher levels.

The mid-life male sex-change applicant: A multiclinic survey

1984 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard B. Roback ◽  
Elyse Schwartz Felleman ◽  
Stephen I. Abramowitz
Keyword(s):  
Sex Change ◽  
Male Sex

scholarly journals Placenta-specific Expression of the Interleukin-2 (IL-2) Receptor β Subunit from an Endogenous Retroviral Promoter

2011 ◽  
Vol 286 (41) ◽  
pp. 35543-35552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla J. Cohen ◽  
Rita Rebollo ◽  
Sonja Babovic ◽  
Elizabeth L. Dai ◽  
Wendy P. Robinson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transcription Initiation ◽  
Interleukin 2 ◽  
Endogenous Retroviruses ◽  
Specific Gene ◽  
Β Subunit ◽  
Gene Encoding ◽  
Specific Expression ◽  
Tissue Specific ◽  
Cellular Genes ◽  
Villous Trophoblast

The long terminal repeat (LTR) sequences of endogenous retroviruses and retroelements contain promoter elements and are known to form chimeric transcripts with nearby cellular genes. Here we show that an LTR of the THE1D retroelement family has been domesticated as an alternative promoter of human IL2RB, the gene encoding the β subunit of the IL-2 receptor. The LTR promoter confers expression specifically in the placental trophoblast as opposed to its native transcription in the hematopoietic system. Rather than sequence-specific determinants, DNA methylation was found to regulate transcription initiation and splicing efficiency in a tissue-specific manner. Furthermore, we detected the cytoplasmic signaling domain of the IL-2Rβ protein in the placenta, suggesting that IL-2Rβ undergoes preferential proteolytic cleavage in this tissue. These findings implicate novel functions for this cytokine receptor subunit in the villous trophoblast and reveal an intriguing example of ancient LTR exaptation to drive tissue-specific gene expression.

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