| Title: | A partially sex-reversed giant kelp sheds light into the mechanisms of sexual differentiation in a UV sexual system |
| Author(s): | Muller DG; Gaschet E; Godfroy O; Gueno J; Cossard G; Kunert M; Peters AF; Westermeier R; Boland W; Cock JM; Lipinska AP; Coelho SM; |
| Address: | "Fachbereich Biologie der Universitat Konstanz, Konstanz, 78457, Germany. UPMC Univ Paris 06, CNRS, Integrative Biology of Marine Models, Station Biologique de Roscoff, Sorbonne Universite, Roscoff, CS 90074, F-29688, France. Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, 07745, Germany. Bezhin Rosko, Santec, 29250, France. Instituto de Acuicultura, Universidad Austral de Chile, Casilla 1327, Puerto Montt, Chile. Max Plank Institute for Developmental Biology, Tubingen, Germany" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1469-8137 (Electronic) 0028-646X (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "In UV sexual systems, sex is determined during the haploid phase of the life cycle and males have a V chromosome whereas females have a U chromosome. Previous work in the brown alga Ectocarpus revealed that the V chromosome has a dominant role in male sex determination and suggested that the female developmental programme may occur by 'default'. Here, we describe the identification of a genetically male giant kelp strain presenting phenotypic features typical of a female, despite lacking the U-specific region. The conversion to the female developmental programme is however incomplete, because gametes of this feminized male are unable to produce the sperm-attracting pheromone lamoxirene. We identify the transcriptomic patterns underlying the male and female specific developmental programmes, and show that the phenotypic feminization is associated with both feminization and de-masculinization of gene expression patterns. Importantly, the feminization phenotype was associated with dramatic downregulation of two V-specific genes including a candidate male-determining gene. Our results reveal the transcriptional changes associated with sexual differentiation in a UV system, and contribute to disentangling the role of sex-linked and autosomal gene expression in the initiation of sex-specific developmental programmes. Overall, the data presented here imply that the U-specific region is not required to initiate the female developmental programme, but is critical to produce fully functional eggs, arguing against the idea that female is the 'default' sex in this species" |
| Keywords: | Haploidy *Macrocystis *Phaeophyta/genetics Phenotype Sex Differentiation/genetics autosomes brown algae development feminization sex chromosomes sex determination sexual differentiation; |
| Notes: | "MedlineMuller, Dieter G Gaschet, Enora Godfroy, Olivier Gueno, Josselin Cossard, Guillaume Kunert, Maritta Peters, Akira F Westermeier, Renato Boland, Wilhelm Cock, J Mark Lipinska, Agnieszka P Coelho, Susana M eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2021/06/25 New Phytol. 2021 Oct; 232(1):252-263. doi: 10.1111/nph.17582. Epub 2021 Jul 29" |
