Haplotype-resolved genomics identifies <i>cyp19a1a</i> as a candidate master sex-determining gene in golden trevally (<i>Gnathanodon speciosus</i>).

ABSTRACT: Teleost fish exhibit diverse genetic sex determination systems, offering opportunities to understand its genetic basis and insights into sex chromosome evolution. The golden trevally (Gnathanodon speciosus), a commercially important Carangidae species, was studied to uncover its sex determination mechanism. We generated haplotype-resolved, chromosome-level genome assemblies for both sexes and identified a ZW system with a ∼90 kb sex-determining region (SDR) on Chr1. Within the SDR, cyp19a1a is uniquely expressed from the W allele prior to gonadal differentiation. A ∼1-kb upstream region of cyp19a1a harbors fixed variants between sexes. Reporter gene assays reveal that these variants reduce promoter activity in the Z allele, likely silencing cyp19a1aZ. This sugge

SUBMITTER: Fan B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12475581 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature