Genetic network underlying temperature-dependent sex determination is endogenously regulated by temperature in isolated cultured Trachemys scripta gonads.
In reptiles with temperature-dependent sex determination, gonadogenesis is initially directed by the incubation temperature of the egg during the middle third of embryonic development. The mechanism by which temperature is transduced into a sex-determining molecular signal remains a mystery, and here we examine the molecular network underlying sex determination in gonads in vitro. We use a whole organ culture system to show that expression of putative members of the sex-determining network (Dmrt1, Sox9, Mis, and FoxL2) are regulated by temperature endogenously within cells in the bipotential gonad and do not require other embryonic tissues to be expressed in a normal pattern in the red-eared slider turtle, Trachemys scripta. Furthermore, following a change in temperature, these factors exhibit temperature-responsive expression patterns that last for the duration of gonadogenesis. Finally, mosaic misexpression of a fusion Sox9 construct demonstrates the ability to functionally manipulate the gonad at the molecular level.
Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.
Christina M
CM
Shoemaker-Daly
Kyle
K
Jackson
Ryohei
R
Yatsu
Yuiko
Y
Matsumoto
David
D
Crews
D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D012734:Disorders of Sex Development; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks / Q000502:physiology*; D006066:Gonads / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D055758:SOX9 Transcription Factor / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D019849:Sex Determination Processes; D013696:Temperature; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014426:Turtles / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics*
C110547:DMRT1 protein; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors; D055758:SOX9 Transcription Factor; D014157:Transcription Factors