title: Genome-wide methylation analysis identified sexually dimorphic methylated regions in hybrid tilapia.
abstract: Sexual dimorphism is an interesting biological phenomenon. Previous studies showed that DNA methylation might play a role in sexual dimorphism. However, the overall picture of the genome-wide methylation landscape in sexually dimorphic species remains unclear. We analyzed the DNA methylation landscape and transcriptome in hybrid tilapia (Oreochromis spp.) using whole genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) and RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq). We found 4,757 sexually dimorphic differentially methylated regions (DMRs), with significant clusters of DMRs located on chromosomal regions associated with sex determination. CpG methylation in promoter regions was negatively correlated with the gene expression level. MAPK/ERK pathway was upregulated in male tilapia. We also inferred active cis-regulatory regions (ACRs) in skeletal muscle tissues from WGBS datasets, revealing sexually dimorphic cis-regulatory regions. These results suggest that DNA methylation contribute to sex-specific phenotypes and serve as resources for further investigation to analyze the functions of these regions and their contributions towards sexual dimorphisms.
authors: Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, National University of Singapore, 1 Research Link, 117604 Singapore.|School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 6 Nanyang Drive, 637551 Singapore.
authors: Zi Yi
authors: ZY
authors: Wan
authors: Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, National University of Singapore, 1 Research Link, 117604 Singapore.|State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Institute of Aquatic Economic Animals and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Aquatic Economic Animals, College of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, PR China.
authors: Jun Hong
authors: JH
authors: Xia
authors: Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, National University of Singapore, 1 Research Link, 117604 Singapore.|School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 6 Nanyang Drive, 637551 Singapore.
authors: Grace
authors: G
authors: Lin
authors: Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, National University of Singapore, 1 Research Link, 117604 Singapore.
authors: Le
authors: L
authors: Wang
authors: School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 6 Nanyang Drive, 637551 Singapore.
authors: Valerie C L
authors: VC
authors: Lin
authors: Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, National University of Singapore, 1 Research Link, 117604 Singapore.|School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 6 Nanyang Drive, 637551 Singapore.|Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive, 117543 Singapore.
authors: Gen Hua
authors: GH
authors: Yue
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018899:CpG Islands; D019175:DNA Methylation / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D016678:Genome; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D006824:Hybridization, Genetic; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000378:metabolism; D010802:Phylogeny; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D017210:Tilapia / Q000235:genetics*