Animals (Nov 2021)

A Z-Linked E3 Ubiquitin Ligase <i>Cs-rchy1</i> Is Involved in Gametogenesis in Chinese Tongue Sole, <i>Cynoglossus semilaevis</i>

  • Yuxuan Sun,
  • Ying Zhu,
  • Peng Cheng,
  • Mengqian Zhang,
  • Na Wang,
  • Zhongkai Cui,
  • Min Wei,
  • Wenteng Xu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11113265
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 11
p. 3265

Abstract

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Ubiquitin ligase (E3) plays a versatile role in gonadal development and spermatogenesis in mammals, while its function in fish is little reported. In this study, a Z-chromosome linked ubiquitin ligase rchy1 in C. semilaevis (Cs-rchy1) was cloned and characterized. The full-length cDNA was composed of 1962 bp, including 551 bp 5′UTR, 736 bp 3′UTR, and 675 bp ORF encoding a 224-amino-acid (aa) protein. Cs-rchy1 was examined among seven different tissues and found to be predominantly expressed in gonads. In testis, Cs-rchy1 could be detected from 40 days post hatching (dph) until 3 years post hatching (yph), but there was a significant increase at 6 months post hatching (mph). In comparison, the expression levels in ovary were rather stable among different developmental stages. In situ hybridization showed that Cs-rchy1 was mainly localized in germ cells, that is, spermatid and spermatozoa in testis and stage I, II and III oocytes in ovary. In vitro RNA interference found that Cs-rchy1 knockdown resulted in the decline of sox9 and igf1 in ovarian cell line and down-regulation of cyp19a in the testicular cell line. These data suggested that Cs-rchy1 might participate in gonadal differentiation and gametogenesis, via regulating steroid hormone synthesis.

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