Role of sox family genes in teleostean reproduction-an overview

Abstract

SRY-box (SOX) family genes are mostly transcription factors essential for animal growth, involved in developing oligodendrocyte, neural crest, lens, and testis. SOX proteins are functionally implicated in sex determination/differentiation, early embryogenesis, chondrogenesis, hemopoiesis, neurogenesis, cellular differentiation, and in maintaining multipotency. They function uniquely in different cell types and evoke spatio-temporal influence in the same cell type. Few sox genes have been studied in teleosts that warrants a significant role in reproduction. Over the last decade, with the use of high throughput sequencing, several genes belonging to the sox family are reported in various fish species. This article provides an overview of the role of sox family genes concerning their reproductive function in bony fishes.

Keywords

• Teleosts
• Sox
• Gonads
• Sex-reversal
• Gonadotropin
• Steroidogenesis