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Updated: Sep 4, 2025

Dissection of Larval Zebrafish Gonadal Tissue
Published on: April 26, 2017
Temporal variation in DNA methylation during gonadal development in a reptile with temperature-dependent sex
Fang Liu1, Haoyang Xu1,2, Wei Ni1,2
1Key Laboratory of Tropical and Subtropical Fishery Resources Application and Cultivation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Pearl River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Guangzhou 51038, China.
Abstract:
DNA methylation plays a significant role in transducing external environmental signals to a cellular response in reptiles; however, whether the methylation patterns are conserved across species remains unclear. Here, we examined the genome-wide DNA methylation differentiation between male and female hatchling gonads of the temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) Mauremys mutica (M. mutica) using methylation-dependent restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (MethylRAD-seq) to test differentially methylated genes underlying sexual development. Several categories, including heat-shock genes (HSP90A, HSP30C), histone- (KDM8) and ubiquitin-related genes (TRIM39), kinases (WNK3), and gonad differentiation or gonadal-development-related genes (HSD17B8, HSD17B12), were identified as candidates for future study. Additionally, we identified several regulatory pathways potentially mediating TSD thermosensitivity such as the GnRH signaling pathway and calcium signaling pathway. These findings provide evidence that sexually dimorphic DNA methylation may be associated with sex determination or sex differentiation in TSD M. mutica.
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