Abstract
The sex differentiation period of the Siberian sturgeon was investigated through expression profiling of two testicular markers (dmrt1 and sox9). At the molecular level, a clear sexual dimorphism of dmrt1 and sox9 was observed in 3-year-old fish with immature gonads, in which males showed higher expression of these genes. Among 16-month-old sturgeons cultured in Uruguay, gonad morphology analyses showed one group of fish with undifferentiated gonads and a second group which had started their histological differentiation into ovaries or testes. dmrt1 showed a significantly higher expression in testes of recently differentiated fish, but this was not the case for sox9. In undifferentiated fish, we observed two clearly different groups in terms of expression: one group of fish over-expressing male markers (dmrt1, sox9) and another group of fish showing very low expression of these genes. This suggests that fish undergoing male differentiation can be identified by their profiles of gene expression before they undergo morphological differentiation.
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Abbreviations
- dmrt1 :
-
Doublesex and mab-3 related transcription factor
- sox9 :
-
SRY-box containing gene 9
- amh :
-
Anti-Müllerian Hormone
- nr5a1 :
-
Nuclear receptor subfamily 5, group A, member 1
- nrOb1 :
-
Nuclear receptor subfamily 0, group B, member 1
- RT-qPCR :
-
Real-Time quantitative polymerase chain reaction
- SQ :
-
Systemizing Quotient
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Acknowledgments
This work was financed by the Programa de Desarrollo Tecnológico, Uruguay (Grant PDT-71-13). Many thanks are due to the team of Dr. Walter Norbis (Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República Oriental del Uruguay, Uruguay) for their help in statistics. We also thank “Esturiones del Río Negro” (Uruguay) for kindly providing biological samples.
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Berbejillo, J., Martinez-Bengochea, A., Bedó, G. et al. Expression of dmrt1 and sox9 during gonadal development in the Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baerii). Fish Physiol Biochem 39, 91–94 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-012-9666-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-012-9666-5