1. Genome-wide prediction and comparative transcriptomic analysis reveals the G protein-coupled receptors involved in gonadal development of Apostichopus japonicus
- Author
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Guangbin Liu, Xu Chen, Tao Han, Yang Jingwen, Wang Tianming, Dexiang Huang, Bing Zhang, Jiaqian Feng, and Zi-Hao Zhao
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,Genetics ,0303 health sciences ,biology ,In silico ,Wnt signaling pathway ,biology.organism_classification ,01 natural sciences ,Genome ,Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled ,Transcriptome ,03 medical and health sciences ,Stichopus ,Apostichopus japonicus ,Animals ,Development of the gonads ,Gonads ,Function (biology) ,030304 developmental biology ,010606 plant biology & botany ,G protein-coupled receptor - Abstract
The sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus is dioecious, with seasonal reproduction. G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR)-mediated signaling systems might play critical roles in the reproductive control of A. japonicus. Here, we classified GPCR from the genome in silico and used transcriptomic analyses to further mine those that function in gonadal-development control. Totally, 487 GPCRs were predicted from A. japonicus, and 183 of these were further annotated to molecular pathways. Transcriptome analysis revealed 327 GPCRs expressed in gonads, and these were classified into four families and 19 subfamilies. Three pathways were apparently associated with reproduction, including neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, the mTOR and Wnt signaling pathways. Seven and eight ovary- and testis-specific GPCRs were filtered, and the gene expression profiles were determined in multiple tissues and gonads at different developmental stages by qPCR. These results provide new insights into the discovery of GPCR-mediated signaling control in sea cucumber reproduction, especially in gonadal development control.
- Published
- 2021