lncRNA DMRT2-AS acts as a transcriptional regulator of dmrt2 involving in sex differentiation in the Chinese tongue sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis)

Bo Feng; Shuo Li; Qian Wang; Lili Tang; Fei Huang; Zhihua Zhang; Shahid Mahboobe; Changwei Shao

doi:10.1016/j.cbpb.2020.110542

lncRNA DMRT2-AS acts as a transcriptional regulator of dmrt2 involving in sex differentiation in the Chinese tongue sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis)

Comp Biochem Physiol B Biochem Mol Biol. 2021 Apr-May:253:110542. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpb.2020.110542. Epub 2020 Dec 7.

Authors

Bo Feng¹, Shuo Li², Qian Wang³, Lili Tang³, Fei Huang⁴, Zhihua Zhang¹, Shahid Mahboobe⁵, Changwei Shao⁶

Affiliations

¹ College of Fisheries and Life Science, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China; Key Lab of Sustainable Development of Marine Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China.
² Key Lab of Sustainable Development of Marine Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China; State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agroproducts, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China.
³ Key Lab of Sustainable Development of Marine Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China; Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao), Qingdao 266003, China.
⁴ Genosys, Inc., Shenzhen 518000, China.
⁵ Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Key Lab of Sustainable Development of Marine Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China; Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao), Qingdao 266003, China. Electronic address: shaocw@ysfri.ac.cn.

PMID: 33301875
DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpb.2020.110542

Abstract

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) contribute to various biological processes, including sexual development. As a member of the DMRT family, dmrt2 plays a very important role in sex determination and differentiation. In this study, we cloned and characterized the lncRNA DMRT2-AS (referred to as dmrt2 antisense) associated with dmrt2 from the gonads of the Chinese tongue sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis). The full-length cDNA of DMRT2-AS was 537 bp. Based on a sequence alignment, DMRT2-AS overlapped with dmrt2 in reverse on exon 4 and intron 3, with a region of overlap of 221 bp on exon 4. RT-qPCR showed that DMRT2-AS was highly expressed in the testis of Chinese tongue sole. In addition, the expression of DMRT2-AS increased continuously during male gonadal development. In vitro experiments and bioinformatics predictions showed that DMRT2-AS promoted the expression of dmrt2 at the transcriptional level. These results suggest that DMRT2-AS acts as a transcriptional regulator of dmrt2 and plays an important role in the gonadal differentiation of male.

Keywords: Cynoglossus semilaevis; Epigenetics; Long non-coding RNA; Sexual development; dmrt2.

MeSH terms

Animals
Base Sequence
Female
Fish Proteins / genetics*
Flatfishes / genetics*
Flatfishes / growth & development*
Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / genetics*
Male
RNA, Long Noncoding / genetics*
Sex Differentiation / genetics*
Transcription, Genetic / genetics*

Substances

Fish Proteins
RNA, Long Noncoding