De novo transcriptome assembly and sex-biased gene expression in the gonads of Amur catfish (Silurus asotus)

Fangfang Shen; Yong Long; Fengyang Li; Guodong Ge; Guili Song; Qing Li; Zhigang Qiao; Zongbin Cui

doi:10.1016/j.ygeno.2020.01.026

De novo transcriptome assembly and sex-biased gene expression in the gonads of Amur catfish (Silurus asotus)

Genomics. 2020 May;112(3):2603-2614. doi: 10.1016/j.ygeno.2020.01.026. Epub 2020 Feb 25.

Authors

Fangfang Shen¹, Yong Long², Fengyang Li³, Guodong Ge⁴, Guili Song², Qing Li², Zhigang Qiao¹, Zongbin Cui⁵

Affiliations

¹ Fisheries College, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China; College of Fisheries and Life Science, Dalian Ocean University, Dalian 116023, China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China. Electronic address: zbcui@ihb.ac.cn.

PMID: 32109564
DOI: 10.1016/j.ygeno.2020.01.026

Abstract

Amur catfish is extensively distributed and cultured in Asian countries. Despite of economic importance, the genomic information of this species remains limited. A reference transcriptome of Amur catfish was assembled and the sex-biased gene expression in the gonads was characterized using RNA-sequencing. The assembled transcriptome of Amur catfish consisted of 74,840 transcripts. The N50, mean length and max length of transcripts are 1970, 1235 and 16,748 bp. Putative sex-specific transcripts were identified and sex-specific expression of the representative genes was verified by RT-PCR. Differential expression analysis identified 5401 ovary-biased and 5618 testis-biased genes. The ovary-biased genes were mainly enriched in pathways such as RNA transport and ribosome biogenesis in eukaryotes. The testis-biased genes were enriched in calcium signaling and cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, etc. Our data provide a valuable genomic resource for further investigating the genetic basis of sex determination, sex differentiation and sexual dimorphism of catfish.

Keywords: Amur catfish; Differential gene expression; Gonad; Sex determination; Sex differentiation; Sexual dimorphism; de novo assembly.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Catfishes / genetics*
Catfishes / growth & development
Female
Male
Ovary / metabolism*
RNA-Seq
Sex Characteristics*
Testis / metabolism*
Transcriptome*