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Identification of gonadal soma-derived factor involvement in Monopterus albus (protogynous rice field eel) sex change

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Abstract

We studied molecular events and potential mechanisms underlying the process of female-to-male sex transformation in the rice field eel (Monopterus albus), a protogynous hermaphrodite fish in which the gonad is initially a female ovary and transforms into male testes. We cloned and identified a novel gonadal soma derived factor (GSDF), which encodes a member of the transforming growth factor-beta superfamily. gsdf expression was measured in gonads of female, intersex and male with reverse transcription-PCR and gsdf’s role in sex transformation was studied with qPCR, histological analysis and dual-color in situ hybridization assays and compared to other sex-related genes. gsdf was correlated to Sertoli cell differentiation, indicating involvement in testicular differentiation and sex transformation from female to male in this species. A unique expression pattern reveals a potential role of gsdf essential for the sex transformation of rice field eels.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Shanghai University First-class Disciplines Project of Fisheries and a grant to G. Guan by Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai (16ZR1415200). We also thank LetPub (www.letpub.com) for its linguistic assistance during the preparation of this manuscript.

Authors’ contributions

GG designed the experiments, performed experiments, analyzed the results and wrote the manuscript. ZY carried out experiments, WC and CX performed histological analysis. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Exploration and Utilization of Aquatic Genetic Resources, Ministry of Education, College of Fisheries and Life Sciences, Shanghai Ocean University, HuchengHuan Road 999, Shanghai, 201306, China

    Yefei Zhu, Chunlei Wang, Xiaowu Chen & Guijun Guan

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  1. Yefei Zhu
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  2. Chunlei Wang
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  3. Xiaowu Chen
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Correspondence to Guijun Guan.

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Zhu, Y., Wang, C., Chen, X. et al. Identification of gonadal soma-derived factor involvement in Monopterus albus (protogynous rice field eel) sex change. Mol Biol Rep 43, 629–637 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-016-3997-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-016-3997-8

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