RT Journal Article
T1 Gene expression analysis at the onset of sex differentiation in turbot (Scophthalmus maximus)
A1 Robledo Sánchez, Diego
A1 Ribas, Laia
A1 Cal, Rosa
A1 Sánchez Piñón, Laura
A1 Piferrer, Francesc
A1 Martínez Portela, Paulino
A1 Viñas Díaz, Ana María
K1 Fish
K1 Gonad
K1 Development
K1 QPCR
K1 Genes
K1 Sex ratio
K1 Aromatase
K1 Male
K1 Female
K1 Temperature
AB BackgroundControlling sex ratios is essential for the aquaculture industry, especially in those species with sex dimorphism for relevant productive traits, hence the importance of knowing how the sexual phenotype is established in fish. Turbot, a very important fish for the aquaculture industry in Europe, shows one of the largest sexual growth dimorphisms amongst marine cultured species, being all-female stocks a desirable goal for the industry. Although important knowledge has been achieved on the genetic basis of sex determination (SD) in this species, the master SD gene remains unknown and precise information on gene expression at the critical stage of sex differentiation is lacking. In the present work, we examined the expression profiles of 29 relevant genes related to sex differentiation, from 60 up to 135 days post fertilization (dpf), when gonads are differentiating. We also considered the influence of three temperature regimes on sex differentiation.ResultsThe first sex-related differences in molecular markers could be observed at 90 days post fertilization (dpf) and so we have called that time the onset of sex differentiation. Three genes were the first to show differential expression between males and females and also allowed us to sex turbot accurately at the onset of sex differentiation (90 dpf): cyp19a1a, amh and vasa. The expression of genes related to primordial germ cells (vasa, gsdf, tdrd1) started to increase between 75–90 dpf and vasa and tdrd1 later presented higher expression in females (90-105 dpf). Two genes placed on the SD region of turbot (sox2, fxr1) did not show any expression pattern suggestive of a sex determining function. We also detected changes in the expression levels of several genes (ctnnb1, cyp11a, dmrt2 or sox6) depending on culture temperature.ConclusionOur results enabled us to identify the first sex-associated genetic cues (cyp19a1a, vasa and amh) at the initial stages of gonad development in turbot (90 dpf) and to accurately sex turbot at this age, establishing the correspondence between gene expression profiles and histological sex. Furthermore, we profiled several genes involved in sex differentiation and found specific temperature effects on their expression.
PB BioMed Central
SN 1471-2164
YR 2015
FD 2015
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10347/21960
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10347/21960
LA eng
NO Robledo, D., Ribas, L., Cal, R. et al. Gene expression analysis at the onset of sex differentiation in turbot (Scophthalmus maximus). BMC Genomics 16, 973 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-015-2142-8
NO The study was supported by a project from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (AGL2010-22326-C02-01 and CDS2007-0002). Diego Robledo was supported by a FPU fellowship from the Ministerio de Educación Cultura y Deporte of the Spanish Government. Laia Ribas was supported by Aquagenomics and EpigenAqua postdoctoral contract
DS Minerva
RD 29 abr 2026