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Transcriptional landscape of asymmetric gonadal development in female chicken embryos [scRNA-seq]

ABSTRACT: Asymmetrical gonadal development is an intriguing phenomenon observed in the majority of female birds. In chickens, the left gonad of female embryos develops into a functional ovary, while the right gonad undergoes degeneration during embryogenesis. This sexually dimorphic trait is primarily induced by the spatial differential expression of the PITX2 gene. However, a comprehensive understanding of the transcriptional profile of the developing gonads during asymmetric development is still lacking. To elucidate the molecular mechanism of asymmetric gonadal development in chickens, we compared the transcriptomes between left and right gonads of female chickens using bulk- and single cell (sc) -RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) approaches. Our bulk RNA-seq analysis of the female chicken gonads at E5 (HH26), E6.5 (HH30), E8 (HH34), and E9.5 (HH36) revealed significant differential gene expression between the left and right female chicken gonads, particularly in signaling pathways, cell cycle, and metabolic processes. Moreover, scRNA-seq analysis revealed that coelomic epithelial, interstitial, and pre-granulosa cells of the left gonads share a highly proliferative status, contributing to the asymmetric gonadal cell proliferation, which may be regulated by the TGFβ signaling pathway. Our findings demonstrate that dynamic cell-type-specific transcriptional profiles during embryogenesis play a vital role in the asymmetric gonadal development of female chickens.

ORGANISM(S): Gallus gallus

PROVIDER: GSE278924 | GEO | 2025/09/26

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Gonadal sex differentiation – testis versus ovary formation – is a fundamental process required for reproduction and evolution. Reflecting this importance, the embryonic gonads of vertebrate species comprise the same key cell types; germ cells, supporting cells and interstitial steroidogenic cells. Remarkably, the genetic triggers for gonadal sex differentiation vary across species (the SRY gene in mammals, DMRT1 in birds and some turtles, temperature in many reptiles, AMH and various other genes in fishes). Despite this variation, the cell biology of gonadal development was long thought to be largely conserved. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of gonadal sex differentiation, using the chicken embryo as a model and considering the entire gonad. We sampled over 30,000 cells across several developmental stages, prior, during and after the onset of gonadal sex differentiation. The data provide several new insights into cell lineage specification during vertebrate gonadogenesis. Combining lineage tracing with single cell transcriptomics, the data show that somatic supporting cells of the embryonic chicken gonad do not derive from the coelomic epithelium, in contrast to other vertebrates studied. Instead, the early somatic precursors cells of the gonads in both sexes derive from a DMRT1+/PAX2+/WNT4+/OSR1+ mesenchymal cell population. In particular, PAX2 marks immigrating mesenchymal cells that give rise to the supporting cell lineage. We find a greater complexity of gonadal cell types than previously thought, including the identification of two distinct sub-populations of Sertoli cells in developing testes, and derivation of embryonic steroidogenic cells from a differentiated supporting cell lineage. We provide significantly improved resolution of gonadal cell types and identify several new gonadal marker genes. Altogether, these results indicate that, just as the genetic trigger for sex differs across vertebrate groups, cell lineage specification in the gonad may also vary substantially.

Project description:We used the MPSS technology to uncover gene expression profiling in a greater depth in the early embryonic gonads and primordial germ cells (PGCs) in the chicken. Total numbers of sequenced signatures were 1,012,533 and 995,676 for the PGCs and gonad. Using a false discovery rate cut-off of 0.05, we found 3.05 % of all signatures in the PCGs and 1.89 % of all signatures in the gonad signatures were significantly up-regulated compared to each sample. The MPSS result was very consistent with our previous result using EST data(http://chickgce.snu.ac.kr/). Keywords: cell type comparison Experimental animals provided for this experiment were maintained at the University Animal Farm, Seoul National University, and all experimental procedures were performed at the affiliated laboratories of the university. Gonadal cells were retrieved from the gonads of 6.5-day-old (stage 29) White Leghorn (WL) embryos by our standard procedure [26]. Embryos were freed from the yolk by rinsing with calcium- and magnesium-free PBS and the gonads were retrieved by dissection of embryo abdomen with sharp tweezers under a stereomicroscope. Embryonic gonads were collected from total 1,947 embryos by 10 highly-skilled persons through 8 separated experimental batches. Gonadal tissues were dissociated by gentle pipetting in 0.05% (v:v) trypsin solution supplemented with 0.53 mM EDTA. After centrifuged at 200xg for 5 min, total gonadal cells were loaded into MACS (Miltenyi Biotech, Germany), and the separated primordial germ cells (PGCs) were immediately stored in liquid nitrogen (-190ºC) until processed further. The numbers of PGCs in cell population before and after loading were counted. MACS treatment for chicken PGCs and counting PGC number Chicken gonadal cells were incubated with PGC-specific primary antibody, anti-stage specific embryo antigen (anti-SSEA)-1 antibody for chicken PGCs (mouse IgM isotype), for 20 min at the room temperature of 20-25?C. Anti-SSEA-1 antibody developed by [27] was obtained from the Developmental Studies Hybridoma Bank developed under the auspices of the NICHD and maintained by the University of Iowa, Development of Biological Science. After washing with 1mL buffer (PBS supplement with 0.5% BSA and 2mM EDTA), the supernatant was completely removed. The pellet was mixed with 100 ? buffer containing 20? of rat anti-mouse IgM microbeads for 15 min at 4?C. Treated cells were carefully washed by the addition of 500 ? buffer and subsequently loaded with MACS.[28] For counting cell number, chicken PGCs before or after MACS treatment were fixed with 1% (v:v) glutaraldehyde for 5 min and rinsed with 1x PBS twice. The anti-SSEA-1 ascites fluid diluted 1:1,000 in PBS was added and subsequent steps were carried out using DAKO universal LSAB® kit, Peroxidase (DAKO, USA) according to the manufacturer’s instruction. After 8 batches of cell preparation, total cell number of PGC-enriched fraction and gonadal stromal cells was 5.26X106 and 1.76X108, respectively. These cell populations were further used for total RNA isolation and massively parallel signature sequencing (MPSS) analysis.

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Transcriptional landscape of asymmetric gonadal development in female chicken embryos [scRNA-seq]

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