Comparative transcriptome analysis provides insights into the molecular mechanisms of high-frequency hearing differences between the sexes of Odorrana tormota

Abstract

Background Acoustic communication is important for the survival and reproduction of anurans and masking background noise is a critical factor for their effective acoustic communication. Males of the concave-eared frog (Odorrana tormota) have evolved an ultrasonic communication capacity to avoid masking by the widespread background noise of local fast-flowing streams, whereas females exhibit no ultrasonic sensitivity. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the high-frequency hearing differences between the sexes of O. tormota are still poorly understood. Results In this study, we sequenced the brain transcriptomes of male and female O. tormota, and compared their differential gene expression. A total of 4,605 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the sexes of O. tormota were identified and eleven of them were related to auditory based on the annotation and enrichment analysis. Most of these DEGs in males showed a higher expression trend than females in both quantity and expression quantity. The highly expressed genes in males were relatively concentrated in neurogenesis, signal transduction, ion transport and energy metabolism, whereas the up-expressed genes in females were mainly related to the growth and development regulation of specific auditory cells. Conclusions The transcriptome of male and female O. tormota has been sequenced and de novo assembled, which will provide gene reference for further genomic studies. In addition, this is the first research to reveal the molecular mechanisms of sex differences in ultrasonic hearing between the sexes of O. tormota and will provide new insights into the genetic basis of the auditory adaptation in amphibians during their transition from water to land.

Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Vertebrate Adaptive Evolution: A Systematic Review

“…Supersonic hearing has been proposed as an adaption phenotype to background noises in their environments. Differential transcription in genes involved in neurogenesis and sensory perception has been proposed as one of the mechanisms underlying the evolution of this trait [148]. Multiple genes observed to be differentially transcribed in male and female anglerfish are involved in gene regulation or have roles within cellular pathways [148].…”

“…Differential transcription in genes involved in neurogenesis and sensory perception has been proposed as one of the mechanisms underlying the evolution of this trait [148]. Multiple genes observed to be differentially transcribed in male and female anglerfish are involved in gene regulation or have roles within cellular pathways [148]. Thus, gene duplication, neofunctionalization, differential transcription, and gene losses have been important molecular mechanisms in reproductive adaptations.…”

Sex Differences in Cochlear Transcriptomes in Horseshoe Bats

“…Several recent studies have been performed to assess the relative roles of DGE and AS in sexual differences and their results suggested that DGE and AS might function independently to mediate sexual differences [39,40]. However, few studies have been performed to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying the sexual differences of vocalizations and acoustic signals (but see [41]) and none have been conducted for the differences in echolocation pulse frequencies between males and females in bats.…”

Sex differences in gene expression and alternative splicing in the Chinese horseshoe bat

“…To test for our proposal, we obtained mRNA-seq data of brain and liver from four individuals of each sex. Brain is responsible for regulation of almost all life activities and was recently used to study acoustic differences between the sexes of frog ( Chen et al, 2022 ). Liver is the primary organ for metabolism and is related to feeding.…”