DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Exploring the Evolution of Shifts in Reproductive Function in Hermaphroditic Fishes Using Gene Coexpression Networks

论文研究：利用基因共表达网络探索雌雄同体鱼类生殖功能转变的进化

• 批准号: 1601838
• 负责人: Kathleen Cole
• 金额: $ 1.84万
• 依托单位: University of Hawaii
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-05-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1601838&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Exploring; Evolution; Shifts

Genes and gene pathways responsible for sexual development are highly conserved across animal taxa; organisms as different as humans, fishes, and flies share some of the same basic building blocks for determining if an individual develops as a female or a male. This study will investigate the genetic basis of sexual development in two species of fish. In most animals, sex is predetermined by genetics, established during development, and is fixed for life. This pattern is not true, however, for numerous fish species that exhibit the remarkable ability to change their functional sex (referred to as hermaphroditism). Individuals are neither female nor male and can shift between producing both sperm and eggs as adults. We know very little about the genetic bases of shifting sexual function. Understanding the ability of hermaphroditic fishes to produce new tissues for generating sperm and ova throughout their lives could provide vital information for solving fertility issues in humans, who do not have this ability. In addition, based on the findings, the researchers will provide classroom material for elementary and middle school students.Sequential hermaphroditism, the ability to transition between gamete types at some point in adult life, is a widespread strategy among teleost fishes. This study aims to understand the development, evolution and diversification of shifts in sexual function in the marine fish family Gobiidae. This family is an ideal system in which to explore both the evolution and development of sexual plasticity, as hermaphroditism has arisen independently as many as five times. The study will compare two species, Eviota epiphanes with Lythrypnus dalliI. Histological techniques will be used to generate a morphological time series of fish gonads as they transition from ova to sperm production and sequence the whole transcriptome (RNAseq) of brain and gonadal tissue as they transition. These data will be used to construct gene coexpression networks that will be compared between the two species. The results will provide insight into the gene regulatory pathways that govern the sex change process and be used to test for evolutionary conservation or change in those pathways.

负责性发育的基因和基因途径在动物类群中高度保守；像人、鱼和苍蝇这样不同的生物共享一些相同的基本构件，以确定一个人是作为雌性还是作为雄性发育的。这项研究将调查两种鱼的性发育的遗传基础。在大多数动物中，性别是由基因预先决定的，在发育过程中建立起来的，并且是终身固定的。然而，对于许多表现出非凡能力改变其功能性性别(称为雌雄同体)的鱼类来说，这种模式并不正确。个体既不是男性也不是女性，成年后可以同时产生精子和卵子。我们对性功能改变的遗传基础知之甚少。了解两性鱼类在一生中产生产生精子和卵子的新组织的能力，可以为解决人类的生育问题提供重要信息，因为人类没有这种能力。此外，基于这些发现，研究人员将为中小学生提供课堂材料。顺序两性行为是一种在成年生活中的某个时刻在配子类型之间转换的能力，是硬骨鱼中普遍存在的策略。本研究旨在了解海洋鱼类戈壁鱼科鱼类性功能的发育、进化和多样化。这个家庭是探索性可塑性进化和发展的理想系统，因为两性畸形已经独立出现了多达五次。这项研究将对两个物种进行比较，Eviota Epiphanes和Lythypnus dallii。组织学技术将被用来产生鱼性腺从卵子过渡到精子产生的形态时间序列，并在它们过渡时对大脑和性腺组织的整个转录组(RNAseq)进行测序。这些数据将被用来构建基因共表达网络，并在这两个物种之间进行比较。这些结果将提供对支配性别变化过程的基因调控途径的洞察，并被用于测试这些途径中的进化保守或变化。