Gonad Transcriptome Analysis of the Pacific Oyster Crassostrea gigas Identifies Potential Genes Regulating the Sex Determination and Differentiation Process

• Published in: Marine biotechnology (New York, N.Y.) Vol. 20; no. 2; pp. 206 - 219
• Main Authors: Yue, Chenyang, Li, Qi, Yu, Hong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01-04-2018; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animals; Aquaculture; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Clustering; Correlation analysis; Crassostrea - genetics; Crassostrea - growth & development; Crassostrea gigas; Differentiation; Engineering; Female; Females; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; Gametogenesis; Gene expression; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; Gene Regulatory Networks; Genes; Gonads; Hermaphroditism; Life Sciences; Male; Males; Marine molluscs; Microbiology; Molecular modelling; Mollusks; Network analysis; Neurotransmitters; Non-coding RNA; Nucleic acids; Original Article; Ovaries; Ovary - growth & development; Oysters; Physical growth; Reproduction (biology); Ribonucleic acid; RNA; RNA, Untranslated - metabolism; Sex; Sex determination; Sex Determination Processes - genetics; Sex differentiation; Sex Differentiation - genetics; Sexual reproduction; Spermatogenesis; Testis - growth & development; Transcription factors; Zoology; Gonad transcriptome; Reproductive regulation; Weighted gene correlation network analysis; Sex determination and differentiation; Crassostrea gigas
• ISSN: 1436-2228; 1436-2236
• DOI: 10.1007/s10126-018-9798-4

The Pacific oyster
Crassostrea gigas
is a commercially important bivalve in aquaculture worldwide.
C. gigas
has a fascinating sexual reproduction system consisting of dioecism, sex change, and occasional hermaphroditism, while knowledge of the molecular mechanisms of sex determination and differentiation is still limited. In this study, the transcriptomes of male and female gonads at different gametogenesis stages were characterized by RNA-seq. Hierarchical clustering based on genes differentially expressed revealed that 1269 genes were expressed specifically in female gonads and 817 genes were expressed increasingly over the course of spermatogenesis. Besides, we identified two and one gene modules related to female and male gonad development, respectively, using weighted gene correlation network analysis (WGCNA). Interestingly, GO and KEGG enrichment analysis showed that neurotransmitter-related terms were significantly enriched in genes related to ovary development, suggesting that the neurotransmitters were likely to regulate female sex differentiation. In addition, two hub genes related to testis development, lncRNA LOC105321313 and
Cg-Sh3kbp1
, and one hub gene related to ovary development,
Cg-Malrd1-like
, were firstly investigated. This study points out the role of neurotransmitter and non-coding RNA regulation during gonad development and produces lists of novel relevant candidate genes for further studies. All of these provided valuable information to understand the molecular mechanisms of
C. gigas
sex determination and differentiation.