The fusion gene hsf5-rnf43 in Nile tilapia: A potential regulator in the maintenance of testis function and sexual differentiation

Yawei Shen; Hewei Jiang; Adelino V M Canario; Tiantian Chen; Yufei Liu; Guokun Yang; Xiaolin Meng; Jinliang Zhao; Xiaowu Chen

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.108284

The fusion gene hsf5-rnf43 in Nile tilapia: A potential regulator in the maintenance of testis function and sexual differentiation

iScience. 2023 Oct 21;26(11):108284. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108284. eCollection 2023 Nov 17.

Authors

Yawei Shen^{1

2}, Hewei Jiang², Adelino V M Canario³, Tiantian Chen², Yufei Liu², Guokun Yang¹, Xiaolin Meng¹, Jinliang Zhao², Xiaowu Chen⁴

Affiliations

¹ College of Fisheries, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, Henan, China.
² Key Laboratory of Exploration and Utilization of Aquatic Genetic Resources, Ministry of Education, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China.
³ CCMAR/CIMAR Centre for Marine Sciences, University of Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, Faro 8005-139, Portugal.
⁴ Shanghai Collaborative Innovation for Aquatic Animal Genetics and Breeding, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China.

Abstract

We identified that the genes heat shock transcription factor 5 (hsf5) and ring finger protein 43 (rnf43) happened fusion in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), called hsf5-rnf43, and provided the characteristic and functional analysis of hsf5-rnf43 gene in fish for the first time. Analysis of spatiotemporal expression showed that hsf5-rnf43 was specifically expressed in the testis and located in primary spermatocytes of adult Nile tilapia and gradually increased during testis development from 5 to 180 days after hatching. We also found DNA methylation regulated sex-biased expression of hsf5-rnf43 in the early development of Nile tilapia, and was affected by high temperature during the thermosensitive period of Nile tilapia sex differentiation. Therefore, we first reported that the fusion gene hsf5-rnf43 was sex-biased expressed in the testis regulated by DNA methylation and affected by high temperature, which may be involved in the maintenance of testis function and sex differentiation of Nile tilapia.

Keywords: Developmental biology; Epigenetics; Genetics; Ichthyology.