Genetics of Sexual Development: An Evolutionary Playground for Fish

Heule, Corina; Salzburger, Walter; Böhne, Astrid

doi:10.1534/genetics.114.161158

Cited by 144 publications

(171 citation statements)

References 114 publications

(128 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

159

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…As primitive vertebrates, their reproduction strategies have evolved high particularities and abundant diversities to adapt to water environment change in the habitat [14]. According to the difference of reproduction strategy, fish can be grouped into unisexuals, hermaphrodites and gonochorists [15]. The majority of fishes are gonochorism, and hermaphroditic phenomena are also common, which have been reported in some fishes including rice field eel, black sea bream (Acanlhopagrus schegeli) and grouper (Epinephelus coioides) [2,1618].…”

Section: Diversity Of Reproduction Strategies In Fishmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic basis and biotechnological manipulation of sexual dimorphism and sex determination in fish

Mei

Gui

2015

Sci. China Life Sci.

326

166

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aquaculture has made an enormous contribution to the world food production, especially to the sustainable supply of animal proteins. The utility of diverse reproduction strategies in fish, such as the exploiting use of unisexual gynogenesis, has created a typical case of fish genetic breeding. A number of fish species show substantial sexual dimorphism that is closely linked to multiple economic traits including growth rate and body size, and the efficient development of sex-linked genetic markers and sex control biotechnologies has provided significant approaches to increase the production and value for commercial purposes. Along with the rapid development of genomics and molecular genetic techniques, the genetic basis of sexual dimorphism has been gradually deciphered, and great progress has been made in the mechanisms of fish sex determination and identification of sex-determining genes. This review summarizes the progress to provide some directive and objective thinking for further research in this field.reproduction strategies, sexual dimorphism, sex determination, sex-determining gene, sex chromosome, sex control breeding Citation:Mei J, Gui JF. Genetic basis and biotechnological manipulation of sexual dimorphism and sex determination in fish. Sci China Life Sci, 2015, 58: 124 -136,

show abstract

Section: Diversity Of Reproduction Strategies In Fishmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic basis and biotechnological manipulation of sexual dimorphism and sex determination in fish

Mei

Gui

2015

Sci. China Life Sci.

326

166

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In addition to fish species with CSD, there are species with polygenic sex determination (PSD), in which sex depends on the combined action of several promale and profemale genetic factors, and species with temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) (3). Understanding how the environment influences sex ratios in vertebrates is of fundamental importance in the study of the evolution of sex-determining mechanisms (4,5). It is also of practical relevance in evaluating the effects of climate change and chemical pollution (6,7).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Heat-induced masculinization in domesticated zebrafish is family-specific and yields a set of different gonadal transcriptomes

Ribas

Liew

Díaz

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

119

136

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Understanding environmental influences on sex ratios is important for the study of the evolution of sex-determining mechanisms and for evaluating the effects of global warming and chemical pollution. Fishes exhibit sexual plasticity, but the underlying mechanisms of environmental effects on their reproduction are unclear even in the well-established teleost research model, the zebrafish. Here we established the conditions to study the effects of elevated temperature on zebrafish sex. We showed that sex ratio response to elevated temperature is family-specific and typically leads to masculinization (female-to-male sex reversal), resulting in neomales. These results uncovered genotype-by-environment interactions that support a polygenic sex determination system in domesticated (laboratory) zebrafish. We found that some heat-treated fish had gene expression profiles similar to untreated controls of the same sex, indicating that they were resistant to thermal effects. Further, most neomales had gonadal transcriptomes similar to that of regular males. Strikingly, we discovered heat-treated females that displayed a normal ovarian phenotype but with a "male-like" gonadal transcriptome. Such major transcriptomic reprogramming with preserved organ structure has never been reported. Juveniles were also found to have a male-like transcriptome shortly after exposure to heat. These findings were validated by analyzing the expression of genes and signaling pathways associated with sex differentiation. Our results revealed a lasting thermal effect on zebrafish gonads, suggesting new avenues for detection of functional consequences of elevated temperature in natural fish populations in a global warming scenario.A major paradox in developmental biology is the lack of conservation of sex-determining mechanisms even in closely related taxa (1). Thus, in mammals and birds, sex is genetically canalized by a chromosomal sex determination (CSD) system of male (XX/XY in mammals) or female (ZW/ZZ in birds) heterogamety, driven by the action of a master sex-determining gene: sry in mammals and dmrt1 in birds (1). In contrast, fish sex can be very plastic, with the combination of genetic and environmental influences (2). In addition to fish species with CSD, there are species with polygenic sex determination (PSD), in which sex depends on the combined action of several promale and profemale genetic factors, and species with temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) (3). Understanding how the environment influences sex ratios in vertebrates is of fundamental importance in the study of the evolution of sex-determining mechanisms (4, 5). It is also of practical relevance in evaluating the effects of climate change and chemical pollution (6, 7).The effects of temperature on gene expression during sex differentiation have been investigated in different teleost species, including the African catfish, Clarias gariepinus (8), European sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax (9, 10), Japanese flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus (11), pejerrey, Odontesthes...

show abstract

“…Closely related species or even populations of the same species can have different sexdetermining mechanisms (Takehana et al 2007;Ross et al 2009;Kobayashi et al 2013;Heule et al 2014;Larney et al 2014). Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a popular model for studies of vertebrate development, behavior, physiology, evolution, disease, and human health (Mills et al 2007;Seth et al 2013;Braasch et al 2014;Ota and Kawahara 2014;Wilkinson et al 2014), but researchers struggle with highly variable and distorted sex ratios, and investigations into the genetic nature of zebrafish sex determination are conflicting.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Wild Sex in Zebrafish: Loss of the Natural Sex Determinant in Domesticated Strains

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sex determination can be robustly genetic, strongly environmental, or genetic subject to environmental perturbation. The genetic basis of sex determination is unknown for zebrafish (Danio rerio), a model for development and human health. We used RADtag population genomics to identify sex-linked polymorphisms. After verifying this "RAD-sex" method on medaka (Oryzias latipes), we studied two domesticated zebrafish strains (AB and TU), two natural laboratory strains (WIK and EKW), and two recent isolates from nature (NA and CB). All four natural strains had a single sex-linked region at the right tip of chromosome 4, enabling sex genotyping by PCR. Genotypes for the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) with the strongest statistical association to sex suggested that wild zebrafish have WZ/ZZ sex chromosomes. In natural strains, "male genotypes" became males and some "female genotypes" also became males, suggesting that the environment or genetic background can cause female-to-male sex reversal. Surprisingly, TU and AB lacked detectable sex-linked loci. Phylogenomics rooted on D. nigrofasciatus verified that all strains are monophyletic. Because AB and TU branched as a monophyletic clade, we could not rule out shared loss of the wild sex locus in a common ancestor despite their independent domestication. Mitochondrial DNA sequences showed that investigated strains represent only one of the three identified zebrafish haplogroups. Results suggest that zebrafish in nature possess a WZ/ZZ sex-determination mechanism with a major determinant lying near the right telomere of chromosome 4 that was modified during domestication. Strains providing the zebrafish reference genome lack key components of the natural sex-determination system but may have evolved variant sex-determining mechanisms during two decades in laboratory culture.. . .researchers using standard lines of zebrafish that have long been maintained in laboratories are often plagued by severe sex ratio distortions. . .. C. Lawrence, J. P. Ebersole, and R. V. Kesseli (2008) C ONSIDERING the fundamental importance of sex for species propagation, it is surprising that primary sexdetermining mechanisms are not strongly conserved among animal taxa (Bull 1983;Charlesworth 1996;Ming et al. 2011;Bachtrog et al. 2014). Closely related species or even populations of the same species can have different sexdetermining mechanisms (Takehana et al. 2007;Ross et al. 2009;Kobayashi et al. 2013;Heule et al. 2014;Larney et al. 2014). Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a popular model for studies of vertebrate development, behavior, physiology, evolution, disease, and human health (Mills et al. 2007;Seth et al. 2013;Braasch et al. 2014;Ota and Kawahara 2014;Wilkinson et al. 2014), but researchers struggle with highly variable and distorted sex ratios, and investigations into the genetic nature of zebrafish sex determination are conflicting. To help understand these issues, we conducted a population genomic study of sex determination in multiple zebrafish strains. Zebrafish exhibit...

show abstract

Genetics of Sexual Development: An Evolutionary Playground for Fish

Cited by 144 publications

References 114 publications

Genetic basis and biotechnological manipulation of sexual dimorphism and sex determination in fish

Genetic basis and biotechnological manipulation of sexual dimorphism and sex determination in fish

Heat-induced masculinization in domesticated zebrafish is family-specific and yields a set of different gonadal transcriptomes

Wild Sex in Zebrafish: Loss of the Natural Sex Determinant in Domesticated Strains

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About