Metabolomics reveals an involvement of pantothenate for male production responding to the short-day stimulus in the water flea, Daphnia pulex.
Under favorable conditions, the micro-crustacean Daphnia pulex produces female offspring by parthenogenesis, whereas under unfavorable conditions, they produce male offspring to induce sexual reproduction (environmental sex determination: ESD). We recently established a suitable system for ESD studies using D. pulex WTN6 strain, in which the sex of the offspring can be regulated by alterations in day-length; long-day and short-day conditions can induce female and male offspring, respectively. Taking advantage of this system, we have already demonstrated that methyl farnesoate (MF) synthesis is necessary for male offspring production, and identified ionotropic glutamate receptors as an upstream regulator of MF signaling. Despite these findings, the molecular mechanisms associated with MF signaling have not yet been well elucidated. In this study, we analyzed the whole metabolic profiles of mother daphnids reared under long-day (female-producing) and short-day (male-producing) conditions, and discovered that pantothenate (vitamin B5), a known precursor to coenzyme A, was significantly accumulated in response to the short-day condition. To confirm the innate role of pantothenate in D. pulex, this metabolite was administered to mother daphnids resulting in a significantly increased proportion of male offspring producing mothers. This study provides novel insights of the metabolic mechanisms of the ESD system in D. pulex.
Okazaki Institute for Integrative Bioscience, National Institute for Basic Biology, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, and Department of Basic Biology, Faculty of Life Science, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), 5-1 Higashiyama, Myodaiji, Okazaki, Aichi 444-8787, Japan.|Environmental Genomics Group, School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, U.K.
Kenji
K
Toyota
Environmental Metabolomics Research Group, School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, U.K.
Alex
A
Gavin
Okazaki Institute for Integrative Bioscience, National Institute for Basic Biology, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, and Department of Basic Biology, Faculty of Life Science, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), 5-1 Higashiyama, Myodaiji, Okazaki, Aichi 444-8787, Japan.
Shinichi
S
Miyagawa
Environmental Metabolomics Research Group, School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, U.K.
Mark R
MR
Viant
Okazaki Institute for Integrative Bioscience, National Institute for Basic Biology, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, and Department of Basic Biology, Faculty of Life Science, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), 5-1 Higashiyama, Myodaiji, Okazaki, Aichi 444-8787, Japan.
Taisen
T
Iguchi
D000818:Animals; D003621:Daphnia / Q000502:physiology*; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D055432:Metabolomics; D010205:Pantothenic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D012733:Sex Differentiation; D015398:Signal Transduction
D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; C032429:methyl farnesoate; D010205:Pantothenic Acid