海胆是我国重要的海水养殖种，其性腺组织是海胆唯一可食用部分。性别差异是影响海胆品质的重要因素之一，但海胆性别决定和分化相关的研究还知之甚少。本项目以光棘球海胆精巢特异表达基因Dmrt1和卵巢特异表达基因foxl2为切入点，采用荧光定量PCR、原位杂交和免疫荧光等技术检测两者在光棘球海胆性腺发育过程中的表达特性；结合RNA干扰沉默基因转录实验探讨基因功能，并通过分析基因沉默后各类性腺细胞标记基因的表达情况鉴定下游效应因子；进一步利用蛋白质和DNA互作实验筛选上游转录调控元件。本研究不仅为揭示海胆性别决定和性别分化机制奠定了基础，并且为海胆性别控制育种工作提供了理论依据。

Sea urchin is an economically important mariculture species in China, and the gonads are the solely edible parts for people. Sex differences are thus one of the most contributing factors to the quality of sea urchins. However, little is known about the sex determination and differentiation in sea urchins. In the present studies, our proposal focuses on the studies of testis-specific expression gene Dmrt1 and ovary-specific expression gene foxl2 to learn the sex development of sea urchin. Detailed expression profiling of both genes will be studied in-depth by real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR), in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry during different stages of gonadal development in Mesocentrotus nudus. Moreover, RNA interference (RNAi) will be utilized to explore their functions and identify the downstream effectors by detecting the expression of marker genes after gene silencing in gonadal cell. Furthermore, the upstream transcriptional regulatory factors will be identified by using protein and DNA interaction technology. This study provides an insight into elucidating the mechanism of the sex determination of sea urchin, and an important theoretical basis for the artificial sex control in sea urchin.