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Functional analysis of a SoxE gene in the oriental freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium nipponense by molecular cloning, expression pattern analysis, and in situ hybridization (de Haan, 1849)

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Abstract

In this study, a full-length cDNA sequence of SoxE (subgroup E within the Sox family of transcription factors) was cloned from Macrobrachium nipponense and named MnSoxE1. The full-length cDNA of MnSoxE1 is 1748 bp, consisting of a 110 bp 5′ UTR, a 105 bp 3′ UTR, and a 1533 bp ORF that encodes 510 amino acids. Conserved domains showed that MnSoxE1 has a high similarity to the SoxE gene of Penaeus vannamei. Phylogenetic tree analysis classified that MnSoxE1 with the SoxE gene of other arthropods into one clade. These results suggested that MnSoxE1 belongs to the SoxE subgroup. During embryonic development, MnSoxE1 was mainly expressed in the gastrula stage, implicating its involvement in tissue cell differentiation and formation. In the post-larval stages, the expression of MnSoxE1 continued to increase on days 1–10. The expression level in males was significantly higher than that in females. Males are clearly distinguishable from females on post-larval day 25, showing that MnSoxE1 may play a role in promoting early development and germ cell and gonadal differentiation, especially for males. qPCR analysis showed that MnSoxE1 may also be involved in oogonium proliferation during ovary development. Further in situ hybridization analysis revealed that MnSoxE1 was mainly located in oocytes and spermatocytes, especially in sertoli cells, and implies that it may be involved in the development of oocytes and spermatocytes, as well as the maintenance of testes in mature prawns. These results indicate that MnSoxE1 is involved in gonadal differentiation and development in M. nipponense, especially testis development.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFD0900201); Central Public-Interest Scientific Institution Basal Research Fund CAFS (2019JBFM02); Jiangsu Agricultural Industry Technology System (JFRS-02); National Natural Science Foundation of China (31572617); China Agriculture Research System-48 (CARS-48); New cultivar breeding Major Project of Jiangsu province (PZCZ201745).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wuxi Fisheries College, Nanjing Agricultural University, Wuxi, 214081, People’s Republic of China

    Yuning Hu & Hongtuo Fu

  2. Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fisheries and Germplasm Resources Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, Freshwater Fisheries Research Center, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Wuxi, 214081, People’s Republic of China

    Shubo Jin, Hongtuo Fu, Hui Qiao, Wenyi Zhang, Sufei Jiang, Yongsheng Gong, Yiwei Xiong & Yan Wu

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  1. Yuning Hu
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Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: YH, HF, SJ, and HQ. Performed the experiments: YH, SJ, and WZ. The specimens were maintained by YH and YX. Analyzed the data: YH. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: YG and YW.

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Correspondence to Hongtuo Fu.

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Hu, Y., Jin, S., Fu, H. et al. Functional analysis of a SoxE gene in the oriental freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium nipponense by molecular cloning, expression pattern analysis, and in situ hybridization (de Haan, 1849). 3 Biotech 10, 10 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-019-1996-x

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