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Transcriptomic Changes Following Induced De-Masculinisation of Australian Red Claw Crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Transcriptomic Changes Following Induced De-Masculinisation of Australian Red Claw Crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus

Tomer Ventura, Grace Smith and Susan Glendinning
International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Vol.24(4), pp.1-19
2023
PMCID: PMC9966960
PMID: 36834703
pdf
ijms-24-032923.19 MBDownloadView
Published Version Open Access CC BY V4.0
url
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24043292View
Published Version

Abstract

androgenic gland insulin endocrinology insulin-like peptides monosex technology red claw crayfish reproduction transcriptomic library
The Australian red claw crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus, an emerging species within the freshwater aquaculture trade, is not only an ideal species for commercial production due to its high fecundity, fast growth, and physiological robustness but also notoriously invasive. Investigating the reproductive axis of this species has been of great interest to farmers, geneticists, and conservationists alike for many decades; however, aside from the characterisation of the key masculinising insulin-like androgenic gland hormone (IAG) produced by the male-specific androgenic gland (AG), little remains known about this system and the downstream signalling cascade involved. This investigation used RNA interference to silence IAG in adult intersex C. quadricarinatus (Cq-IAG), known to be functionally male but genotypically female, successfully inducing sexual redifferentiation in all individuals. To investigate the downstream effects of Cq-IAG knockdown, a comprehensive transcriptomic library was constructed, comprised of three tissues within the male reproductive axis. Several factors known to be involved in the IAG signal transduction pathway, including a receptor, binding factor, and additional insulin-like peptide, were found to not be differentially expressed in response to Cq-IAG silencing, suggesting that the phenotypic changes observed may have occurred through post-transcriptional modifications. Many downstream factors displayed differential expression on a transcriptomic level, most notably related to stress, cell repair, apoptosis, and cell proliferation. These results suggest that IAG is required for sperm maturation, with necrosis of arrested tissue occurring in its absence. These results and the construction of a transcriptomic library for this species will inform future research involving reproductive pathways as well as biotechnological developments in this commercially and ecologically significant species.

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Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary

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#14 Life Below Water
#15 Life on Land

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