Estrogenic control of germ cell differentiation in medaka: independence of early sex dimorphism from zygotic estrogen and receptor signaling.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Estrogen signaling is essential for ovarian differentiation in vertebrates, but its developmental onset and specific roles during early gonadogenesis remain unclear. In medaka (Oryzias latipes), the first morphological sex difference appears as a higher germ cell number in XX compared with XY embryos before hatching. Recently, we demonstrated that zygotically synthesized estrogen was dispensable for early germ cell sex difference but essential for subsequent oocyte meiotic progression and ovarian fate maintenance. Nevertheless, whether these phenomena depend on maternal estrogen or zygotic estrogen signaling mediated by nuclear estrogen receptors (nEsrs) is unknown.

Objective

To clarify the receptor-level requirement of estrogen signaling, we generated e

SUBMITTER: Sakai-Yamada Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12862824 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature