title: Sex-biased miRNAs in gonad and their potential roles for testis development in yellow catfish.
abstract: Recently, YY super-male yellow catfish had been created by hormonal-induced sex reversal and sex-linked markers, which provides a promising research model for fish sex differentiation and gonad development, especially for testis development. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been revealed to play crucial roles in the gene regulation and gonad development in vertebrates. In this study, three small RNA libraries constructed from gonad tissues of XX female, XY male and YY super-male yellow catfish were sequenced. The sequencing data generated a total of 384 conserved miRNAs and 113 potential novel miRNAs, among which 23, 30 and 14 miRNAs were specifically detected in XX ovary, XY testis, and YY testis, respectively. We observed relative lower expression of several miR-200 family members, including miR-141 and miR-429 in YY testis compared with XY testis. Histological analysis indicated a higher degree of testis maturity in YY super-males compared with XY males, as shown by larger spermatogenic cyst, more spermatids and fewer spermatocytes in the spermatogenic cyst. Moreover, five miR-200 family members were significantly up-regulated in testis when treated by 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2), high dose of which will impair testis development and cell proliferation. The down-regulation of miR-141 and 429 coincides with the progression of testis development in both yellow catfish and human. At last, the expression pattern of nine arbitrarily selected miRNAs detected by quantitative RT-PCR was consistent with the Solexa sequencing results. Our study provides a comprehensive miRNA transcriptome analysis for gonad of yellow catfish with different sex genotypes, and identifies a number of sex-biased miRNAs, some of that are potentially involved in testis development and spermatogenesis.
authors.affiliation: College of Fisheries, Key Laboratory of Freshwater Animal Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture, Freshwater Aquaculture Collaborative Innovation Center of Hubei Province, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jing
authors.affiliation: College of Fisheries, Key Laboratory of Freshwater Animal Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture, Freshwater Aquaculture Collaborative Innovation Center of Hubei Province, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Junjie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: College of Fisheries, Key Laboratory of Freshwater Animal Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture, Freshwater Aquaculture Collaborative Innovation Center of Hubei Province, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Shuting
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: College of Fisheries, Key Laboratory of Freshwater Animal Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture, Freshwater Aquaculture Collaborative Innovation Center of Hubei Province, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Wenge
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: College of Fisheries, Key Laboratory of Freshwater Animal Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture, Freshwater Aquaculture Collaborative Innovation Center of Hubei Province, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: College of Fisheries, Key Laboratory of Freshwater Animal Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture, Freshwater Aquaculture Collaborative Innovation Center of Hubei Province, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Weimin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Fisheries, Key Laboratory of Freshwater Animal Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture, Freshwater Aquaculture Collaborative Innovation Center of Hubei Province, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China; State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Jian-Fang
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Gui
authors.affiliation: College of Fisheries, Key Laboratory of Freshwater Animal Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture, Freshwater Aquaculture Collaborative Innovation Center of Hubei Province, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mei
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002397:Catfishes / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development*; D005260:Female; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D006824:Hybridization, Genetic; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D010053:Ovary / Q000378:metabolism*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013737:Testis / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs