Characterization of dmrts and their potential role in gonadal development of mandarin fish (Siniperca chuatsi)

Dmrt gene family plays a very critical role in sex determination and differentiation in animals. In this study, dmrt1, dmrt2 and dmrt3 were first cloned from the gonads of mandarin fish (Siniperca chuatsi). The complete open reading frame sequences of dmrt1, dmrt2 and dmrt3 were 891, 1581 and 1419 bp, encoding 296, 526 and 473 amino acids. Multiple sequence alignments revealed that dmrt proteins were highly conserved in teleosts, especially in DNA-binding domain. Tissue distribution analysis showed that dmrt1 expressed mainly in testis, dmrt2 expressed in ovary and dmrt3 expressed in heart, muscle and gonad. Gonad expression pattern revealed dmrt1 mainly expressed in testis after 15 day after hatching, while dmrt2 mainly expressed after 60 dah. After 17 alpha-methyltestosterone treatment, expression levels of dmrt1 and dmrt3 increased significantly, while dmrt2 expression was repressed. Furthermore, luciferase assay showed dmrt1 could activate gsdf-promotor and inhibit cyp19a1a-promotor alone in vitro. These results suggest that the dmrt1 play a most important role in testis differentiation/development and dmrt2 is critical in ovary development in mandarin fish.

Automated summary

The Dmrt gene family, including dmrt1, dmrt2, and dmrt3, plays a critical role in sex determination and differentiation in animals. This study demonstrated that dmrt1 is mainly expressed in the testis and is crucial for testis differentiation/development, while dmrt2 is critical in ovary development. The expression patterns and functions of these genes provide important insights into sex differentiation in the mandarin fish.