Dynamics of sex-biased gene expression over development in the stick insect Timema californicum

AbstractSexually dimorphic phenotypes are thought to arise primarily from sex-biased gene expression during development. Major changes in developmental strategies, such as the shift from hemimetabolous to holometabolous development, are therefore expected to have profound consequences for the dynamics of sex-biased gene expression. However, no studies have previously examined sex-biased gene expression over development in hemimetabolous insects, precluding comparisons between developmental strategies. Here we characterized sex-biased gene expression at three developmental stages in a hemimetabolous stick insect (Timema californicum): hatchlings, juveniles, and adults. As expected, the proportion of sex-biased genes gradually increased over development. Sex-biased genes identified at early developmental stages were generally consistently male- or female-biased at later stages, suggesting their importance in sexual differentiation. We then compared the dynamics of sex-biased gene expression over development in T. californicum to those of the holometabolous fly Drosophila melanogaster by reanalyzing publicly available RNA-seq data from third instar larval, pupal and adult stages. In D. melanogaster, sex-biased gene expression increases abruptly at the adult stage when morphological sexual dimorphism is manifested. This supports the prediction that sex-biased gene expression mirrors phenotypic sexual dimorphism. Our study details for the first time the dynamics of sex-biased gene expression over development in a hemimetabolous insect and suggests that these dynamics differ extensively between holometabolous and hemimetabolous species.

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Zeiform mouthbrooding in the deepsea – dispelling a myth

10.31219/osf.io/rhk29 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Ralf ◽

G. David Johnson ◽

Kevin Conway

Keyword(s):

Deep Water ◽

Deep Sea ◽

Developmental Stages ◽

Extended Period ◽

Marine Fishes ◽

Early Developmental Stages ◽

Water Fish ◽

First Time ◽

Early Developmental ◽

Deep Sea Fauna

Mouthbrooding or oral incubation, the retention of early developmental stages inside of the mouth for an extended period of time, has evolved multiple times in bony fishes1,2. Though uncommon, this form of parental care has been documented and well-studied in several groups of freshwater fishes but is also known to occur in a small number of marine fishes, all inhabiting coastal waters1,2. A recent paper3, reported for the first time mouthbrooding in a deep-water fish species, the zeiform Parazen pacificus, which according to the authors “fills in a gap in the larval literature for this family of fishes and prompts further investigation into other novel reproductive modes of deep-sea fauna.”

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Comparison of fecundity and offspring immunity in zebrafish fed Lactobacillus rhamnosus CICC 6141 and Lactobacillus casei BL23

Reproduction ◽

10.1530/rep-13-0141 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 147 (1) ◽

pp. 53-64 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Chubin Qin ◽

Li Xu ◽

Yalin Yang ◽

Suxu He ◽

Yingying Dai ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Oocyte Maturation ◽

Lactobacillus Casei ◽

Developmental Stages ◽

Lactobacillus Rhamnosus ◽

Reproductive Process ◽

Beneficial Effects ◽

Larval Stages ◽

Probiotic Strains ◽

Early Developmental

To increase the knowledge of probiotic effects on zebrafish (Danio rerio), we compare the effects of two probiotic strains, Lactobacillus rhamnosus CICC 6141 (a highly adhesive strain) and Lactobacillus casei BL23 (a weakly adhesive strain), on zebrafish reproduction and their offsprings' innate level of immunity to water-borne pathogens. During probiotics treatments from 7 to 28 days, both the Lactobacillus strains, and especially L. casei BL23, significantly increased fecundity in zebrafish: higher rates of egg ovulation, fertilization, and hatching were observed. Increased densities of both small and large vitellogenic follicles, seen in specimens fed either Lactobacillus strain, demonstrated accelerated oocyte maturation. Feeding either strain of Lactobacillus upregulated gene expression of leptin, kiss2, gnrh3, fsh, lh, lhcgr, and paqr8, which were regarded to enhance fecundity and encourage oocyte maturation. Concomitantly, the gene expression of bmp15 and tgfb1 was inhibited, which code for local factors that prevent oocyte maturation. The beneficial effects of the Lactobacillus strains on fecundity diminished after feeding of the probiotics was discontinued, even for the highly adhesive gut Lactobacillus strain. Administering L. rhamnosus CICC 6141 for 28 days was found to affect the innate immunity of offspring derived from their parents, as evinced by a lower level of alkaline phosphatase activity in early larval stages. This study highlights the effects of probiotics both upon the reproductive process and upon the offsprings' immunity during early developmental stages.

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Comparative Transcriptome Analysis of Different Dendrobium Species Reveals Active Ingredients-Related Genes and Pathways

International Journal of Molecular Sciences ◽

10.3390/ijms21030861 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 21 (3) ◽

pp. 861 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Yingdan Yuan ◽

Bo Zhang ◽

Xinggang Tang ◽

Jinchi Zhang ◽

Jie Lin

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Expression Profiles ◽

Gene Expression Profiles ◽

Rna Seq ◽

Active Ingredients ◽

Hub Genes ◽

Transcriptome Database ◽

Gene Modules ◽

Functional Investigation ◽

First Time

Dendrobium is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine, which contains many kinds of active ingredients. In recent years, many Dendrobium transcriptomes have been sequenced. Hence, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was used with the gene expression profiles of active ingredients to identify the modules and genes that may associate with particular species and tissues. Three kinds of Dendrobium species and three tissues were sampled for RNA-seq to generate a high-quality, full-length transcriptome database. Based on significant changes in gene expression, we constructed co-expression networks and revealed 19 gene modules. Among them, four modules with properties correlating to active ingredients regulation and biosynthesis, and several hub genes were selected for further functional investigation. This is the first time the WGCNA method has been used to analyze Dendrobium transcriptome data. Further excavation of the gene module information will help us to further study the role and significance of key genes, key signaling pathways, and regulatory mechanisms between genes on the occurrence and development of medicinal components of Dendrobium.

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Fungal and algal gene expression in early developmental stages of lichen-symbiosis

Mycologia ◽

10.3852/10-064 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 103 (2) ◽

pp. 291-306 ◽

Cited By ~ 39

Author(s):

Suzanne Joneson ◽

Daniele Armaleo ◽

François Lutzoni

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Developmental Stages ◽

Lichen Symbiosis ◽

Early Developmental Stages ◽

Early Developmental ◽

Algal Gene

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Microarray analysis of gene expression during early development: a cautionary overview

Reproduction ◽

10.1530/rep-10-0191 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 140 (6) ◽

pp. 787-801 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Claude Robert

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Early Development ◽

Microarray Analysis ◽

Developmental Stages ◽

Sample Handling ◽

Early Embryos ◽

High Throughput Method ◽

Full Benefit ◽

Key Steps ◽

Early Developmental

The rise of the ‘omics’ technologies started nearly a decade ago and, among them, transcriptomics has been used successfully to contrast gene expression in mammalian oocytes and early embryos. The scarcity of biological material that early developmental stages provide is the prime reason why the field of transcriptomics is becoming more and more popular with reproductive biologists. The potential to amplify scarce mRNA samples and generate the necessary amounts of starting material enables the relative measurement of RNA abundance of thousands of candidates simultaneously. So far, microarrays have been the most commonly used high-throughput method in this field. Microarray platforms can be found in a wide variety of formats, from cDNA collections to long or short oligo probe sets. These platforms generate large amounts of data that require the integration of comparative RNA abundance values in the physiological context of early development for their full benefit to be appreciated. Unfortunately, significant discrepancies between datasets suggest that direct comparison between studies is difficult and often not possible. We have investigated the sample-handling steps leading to the generation of microarray data produced from prehatching embryo samples and have identified key steps that significantly impact the downstream results. This review provides a discussion on the best methods for the preparation of samples from early embryos for microarray analysis and focuses on the challenges that impede dataset comparisons from different platforms and the reasons why methodological benchmarking performed using somatic cells may not apply to the atypical nature of prehatching development.

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Sexual dimorphism of the pulmonary transcriptome in neonatal hyperoxic lung injury: identification of angiogenesis as a key pathway

AJP Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology ◽

10.1152/ajplung.00230.2017 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 313 (6) ◽

pp. L991-L1005 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Cristian Coarfa ◽

Yuhao Zhang ◽

Suman Maity ◽

Dimuthu N. Perera ◽

Weiwu Jiang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Lung Injury ◽

Mrna Level ◽

Sexually Dimorphic ◽

Rna Seq ◽

Illumina Hiseq ◽

Data Set ◽

Vascular Growth ◽

Hyperoxic Lung Injury ◽

High Concentrations

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is characterized by impaired alveolar secondary septation and vascular growth. Exposure to high concentrations of oxygen (hyperoxia) contributes to the development of BPD. The male sex is considered an independent risk factor for the development of BPD. The reasons underlying sexually dimorphic outcomes in premature neonates are not known. We hypothesized that sex-specific modulation of biological processes in the lung under hyperoxic conditions contributes to sex-based differences. Neonatal male and female mice (C57BL/6) were exposed to hyperoxia [95% [Formula: see text], postnatal day (PND) 1–5: saccular stage of lung development] and euthanized on PND 7 or 21. Pulmonary gene expression was studied using RNA-Seq on the Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform. Analysis of the pulmonary transcriptome revealed differential sex-specific modulation of crucial pathways such as angiogenesis, response to hypoxia, inflammatory response, and p53 pathway. Candidate genes from these pathways were validated at the mRNA level by qPCR. Analysis also revealed sex-specific differences in the modulation of crucial transcription factors. Focusing on the differential modulation of the angiogenesis pathway, we also showed sex-specific differential activation of Hif-1α-regulated genes using ChIP-qPCR and differences in expression of crucial genes ( Vegf, VegfR2, and Phd2) modulating angiogenesis. We demonstrate the translational relevance of our findings by showing that our murine sex-specific differences in gene expression correlate with those from a preexisting human BPD data set. In conclusion, we provide novel molecular insights into differential sex-specific modulation of the pulmonary transcriptome in neonatal hyperoxic lung injury and highlight angiogenesis as one of the crucial differentially modulated pathways.

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Spared Nerve Injury Causes Sexually Dimorphic Mechanical Allodynia and Differential Gene Expression in Spinal Cords and Dorsal Root Ganglia in Rats

Molecular Neurobiology ◽

10.1007/s12035-021-02447-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

F.H.G. Ahlström ◽

K. Mätlik ◽

H. Viisanen ◽

K.J. Blomqvist ◽

X. Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Sex Differences ◽

Nerve Injury ◽

Dorsal Root Ganglia ◽

Dorsal Root ◽

Mechanical Allodynia ◽

Female Rats ◽

Sexually Dimorphic ◽

Spared Nerve Injury ◽

Rna Seq

AbstractNeuropathic pain is more prevalent in women. However, females are under-represented in animal experiments, and the mechanisms of sex differences remain inadequately understood. We used the spared nerve injury (SNI) model in rats to characterize sex differences in pain behaviour, unbiased RNA-Seq and proteomics to study the mechanisms. Male and female rats were subjected to SNI- and sham-surgery. Mechanical and cold allodynia were assessed. Ipsilateral lumbar dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and spinal cord (SC) segments were collected for RNA-seq analysis with DESeq2 on Day 7. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples for proteomic analysis and DRGs and SCs for analysis of IB-4 and CGRP, and IBA1 and GFAP, respectively, were collected on Day 21. Females developed stronger mechanical allodynia. There were no differences between the sexes in CGRP and IB-4 in the DRG or glial cell markers in the SC. No CSF protein showed change following SNI. DRG and SC showed abundant changes in gene expression. Sexually dimorphic responses were found in genes related to T-cells (cd28, ctla4, cd274, cd4, prf1), other immunological responses (dpp4, c5a, cxcr2 and il1b), neuronal transmission (hrh3, thbs4, chrna4 and pdyn), plasticity (atf3, c1qc and reg3b), and others (bhlhe22, mcpt1l, trpv6). We observed significantly stronger mechanical allodynia in females and numerous sexually dimorphic changes in gene expression following SNI in rats. Several genes have previously been linked to NP, while some are novel. Our results suggest gene targets for further studies in the development of new, possibly sex-specific, therapies for NP.

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Embryonic Onset of Sexually Dimorphic Heart Rates in the Viviparous Fish, Gambusia holbrooki

Biomedicines ◽

10.3390/biomedicines9020165 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 165

Author(s):

Seyed Ehsan Mousavi ◽

G. John Purser ◽

Jawahar G. Patil

Keyword(s):

Developmental Stages ◽

Sexually Dimorphic ◽

Gambusia Holbrooki ◽

Cardiovascular Development ◽

Heart Rates ◽

Viviparous Fish ◽

Climatic Impacts ◽

And Performance ◽

Heart Physiology ◽

First Time

In fish, little is known about sex-specific differences in physiology and performance of the heart and whether these differences manifest during development. Here for the first time, the sex-specific heart rates during embryogenesis of Gambusia holbrooki, from the onset of the heart rates (HRs) to just prior to parturition, was investigated using light cardiogram. The genetic sex of the embryos was post-verified using a sex-specific genetic marker. Results reveal that heart rates and resting time significantly increase (p < 0.05) with progressive embryonic development. Furthermore, both ventricular and atrial frequencies of female embryos were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than those of their male sibs at the corresponding developmental stages and remained so at all later developmental stages (p < 0.05). In concurrence, the heart rate and ventricular size of the adult females were also significantly (p < 0.05) higher and larger respectively than those of males. Collectively, the results suggest that the cardiac sex-dimorphism manifests as early as late-organogenesis and persists through adulthood in this species. These findings suggest that the cardiac measurements can be employed to non-invasively sex the developing embryos, well in advance of when their phenotypic sex is discernible. In addition, G. holbrooki could serve as a better model to study comparative vertebrate cardiovascular development as well as to investigate anthropogenic and climatic impacts on heart physiology of this species, that may be sex influenced.

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The terminalia of the superfamily Scarabaeoidea (Coleoptera): specific glossary, dissecting methodology, techniques and previously unrecorded sexual dimorphism in some difficult groups

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society ◽

10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa079 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Joana P Cristóvão ◽

Fernando Z Vaz-De-Mello

Keyword(s):

Sexual Dimorphism ◽

Literature Review ◽

Female Genitalia ◽

Sexually Dimorphic ◽

Male And Female ◽

First Time

Abstract The terminology used for the morphological structures of the abdomen as well as male and female genitalia across the superfamily Scarabaeoidea is discussed, based on a literature review across the group. Issues relating to the orientation of the male terminalia and potential homologies between the ‘genital capsule’- and ‘spiculum gastrale’-bearing taxa are discussed and standardisation of terminology pertaining to some ambiguous terms is proposed. A Scarabaeoidea-specific glossary is presented, and synonyms across the literature are given. Schematic illustrations of the abdomen and terminalia are provided. Some new morphological structures are here described for the first time. A standardised dissection protocol for male and female Scarabaeoidea is proposed. Sexually dimorphic structures in the abdomen of Pleurosticti (Dynastinae, Rutelinae, Melolonthinae and Cetoniinae), Glaphyridae, Phaenomeridinae, Passalidae and Omorgus (Trogidae) are described and illustrated for the first time, providing future workers with the possibility to determine the sex of specimens based on external characters without the need for dissection.

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The Separation of Two Different Enzymes Catalyzing the Formation of Hydroxycinnamic A dd Glucosides and Esters

Zeitschrift für Naturforschung C ◽

10.1515/znc-1987-11-1214 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 42 (11-12) ◽

pp. 1223-1230 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Paul Alfred Bäumker ◽

Michael Jütte ◽

Rolf Wiermann

Keyword(s):

Molecular Weight ◽

Ferulic Acid ◽

Developmental Stages ◽

Anion Exchange Chromatography ◽

Exchange Chromatography ◽

Hydroxycinnamic Acid ◽

Early Developmental Stages ◽

First Time ◽

Early Developmental ◽

Molecular Sieving

Protein extracts from anthers of Tulipa cv. Apcldoorn catalyze the formation of glucosidcs and glucose esters of hydroxycinnamic acid with UDP-glucose as the glucosyl donor. By chromatofocusing and by HPLC (anion exchange chromatography) it could be demonstrated for the first time that two different enzymes are involved in these reactions. By using the molecular sieving (HPLC) a molecular weight of about 45000 D was determined for the GT (E) (= catalyzing the formation of esters) and of about 25000 D for the GT (G) (= catalyzing the formation of glucosidcs). Both enzymes exhibit a high spezificity for free hydroxycinnamic acids. It is assumed that these transferases arc involved in the formation of feruloylglucose and ferulic acid glucoside, the latter of which can be isolated from anthers at early developmental stages. Furthermore, it is hypothesized that feruloylglucose functions as a starter molecule for the transacylation reaction by which di- and triferulovlsucrose are formed.

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