Project description:Triploid oysters have poor gonadal development, which can not only bring higher economic benefits but also have a potential application in the genetic containment for aquaculture. However, the key factors that influence germ cell development in triploid oysters remain unclear. In this study, data-independent acquisition was applied to identify proteins related to sterility in triploid Crassostrea gigas.
Project description:Background Triploidy can occur in all species but is often lethal in birds and mammals. In amphibian, invertebrates and numerous species of fishes, triploid animals are viable and undistinguishable from diploid individuals. Gametogenesis is often affected and most animals are sterile for at least one sex, and gametes for the other sex are often unfertile. Although the majority of triploid oysters are sterile (beta individuals, 3nb), a low but persistent proportion of male and female animals produce gametes (alpha individuals, 3na). Thus, oysters constitute a unique model to study the effect of triploidy on germ cells development of both male and females. In this study, we used microarray to study the consequences of polyploidy on triploid oyster germ cells mitosis and meiosis. Results We compared the transcriptome of gonads of 3na and 3nb oyster gonads over the course of gametogenesis to the transcriptome of diploid (2n) oyster gonads. This study allowed us to reveal an increase in DNA repair and apoptosis through the NF-kappaB pathway, and a decrease in actin remodeling and chromatin remodeling in all 3n oysters. The comparison of 3na and 3nb individuals with 2n revealed that a pachytene checkpoints may be responsible for the success in gametogenesis of 3na individuals and for the observed delay in gametogenesis. However, the sterility of 3nb individuals can be explained by a disruption of sex determinism mechanisms. Indeed 3nb females express male-specific genes including enkurin and an Elav-like gene, and 3nb males express female-specific genes including Forkhead box L2 and beta-catenin. Conclusions Our results bring back to the front of the research field the questions of genetic sex determinism, mitosis/meiosis control, pachytene checkpoint, and cell type specific DNA damage pathways. Furthermore, this study identifies numerous new candidate genes which function should now be studied in details in oysters and in other triploid animals in order to elucidate the complex mechanisms involved in the regulation of triploid cells division. Triploid spats were obtained by crossing tetraploid males and diploid females in the ifremer experimental hatchery (La tremblade, Charente Maritime, France). We performed microarray analysis on a total of 35 individual triploid gonads that can be grouped as follow: 3n stage 0 (4 individuals), 3n alpha Stage 1 (8 individuals), 3n beta Stage 1 (8 individuals), 3n alpha Stage 3 male (4 individuals), 3n beta Stage 3 male (3 individuals), 3n alpha Stage 3 female (4 individuals), and 3n beta stage 3 female (4 individuals).
Project description:Background Triploidy can occur in all species but is often lethal in birds and mammals. In amphibian, invertebrates and numerous species of fishes, triploid animals are viable and undistinguishable from diploid individuals. Gametogenesis is often affected and most animals are sterile for at least one sex, and gametes for the other sex are often unfertile. Although the majority of triploid oysters are sterile (beta individuals, 3nb), a low but persistent proportion of male and female animals produce gametes (alpha individuals, 3na). Thus, oysters constitute a unique model to study the effect of triploidy on germ cells development of both male and females. In this study, we used microarray to study the consequences of polyploidy on triploid oyster germ cells mitosis and meiosis. Results We compared the transcriptome of gonads of 3na and 3nb oyster gonads over the course of gametogenesis to the transcriptome of diploid (2n) oyster gonads. This study allowed us to reveal an increase in DNA repair and apoptosis through the NF-kappaB pathway, and a decrease in actin remodeling and chromatin remodeling in all 3n oysters. The comparison of 3na and 3nb individuals with 2n revealed that a pachytene checkpoints may be responsible for the success in gametogenesis of 3na individuals and for the observed delay in gametogenesis. However, the sterility of 3nb individuals can be explained by a disruption of sex determinism mechanisms. Indeed 3nb females express male-specific genes including enkurin and an Elav-like gene, and 3nb males express female-specific genes including Forkhead box L2 and beta-catenin. Conclusions Our results bring back to the front of the research field the questions of genetic sex determinism, mitosis/meiosis control, pachytene checkpoint, and cell type specific DNA damage pathways. Furthermore, this study identifies numerous new candidate genes which function should now be studied in details in oysters and in other triploid animals in order to elucidate the complex mechanisms involved in the regulation of triploid cells division.
Project description:Marine intertidal organisms commonly face hypoxic stress during low tide emersion; moreover, eutrophic conditions and sediment nearness could lead to hypoxic phenomena; it is indeed important to understand the molecular processes involved in the response to hypoxia. In this study the molecular response of the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas to prolonged hypoxia (2 mg O2 L-1 for 20 d) was investigated under experimental conditions. A transcriptomic approach was employed using a cDNA microarray of 9058 C. gigas clones to highlight the genetic expression patterns of the Pacific oyster under hypoxic conditions. Lines of oysters resistant (R) and susceptible (S) to summer mortality were used in this study. This is the first study employing microarrays to characterize the genetic markers and metabolic pathways responding to hypoxic stress in C. gigas.
Project description:Low salinity is one of the main factors limiting the distribution and survival of marine species. As a euryhaline species, the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas can be tolerant to relative low salinity. Through Illumina sequencing, we generated two transcriptomes with samples taken from gills of oysters exposed to the low salinity seawater versus the optimal seawater. By RNAseq technology, we found 1665 up-regulation genes and 1815 down-regulation genes that may regulate osmotic stress in C. gigas. As blasted by GO annotation and KEGG pathway mapping, functional annotation of the genes recovered diverse biological functions and processes. The genes regulated significantly were dominated in cellular process and regulation of biological process, intracellular and cell, binding and protein binding according to GO annotation. The results highlight genes related to osmoregulation and signaling and interactions of osmotic stress response, anti-apoptotic reactions as well as immune response, cell adhesion and communication, cytosqueleton and cell cycle. The study aimed to compare the expression data of the two transcriptomes to provide some useful insights into signal transduction pathways in oysters and offer a number of candidate genes as potential markers of tolerance to hypoosmotic stress for oysters. In addition, the characterization of C. gigas transcriptome will facilitate research into biological processes underlying physiological adaptations to hypoosmotic shock for marine invertebrates.
Project description:Low salinity is one of the main factors limiting the distribution and survival of marine species. As a euryhaline species, the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas can be tolerant to relative low salinity. Through Illumina sequencing, we generated two transcriptomes with samples taken from gills of oysters exposed to the low salinity seawater versus the optimal seawater. By RNAseq technology, we found 1665 up-regulation genes and 1815 down-regulation genes that may regulate osmotic stress in C. gigas. As blasted by GO annotation and KEGG pathway mapping, functional annotation of the genes recovered diverse biological functions and processes. The genes regulated significantly were dominated in cellular process and regulation of biological process, intracellular and cell, binding and protein binding according to GO annotation. The results highlight genes related to osmoregulation and signaling and interactions of osmotic stress response, anti-apoptotic reactions as well as immune response, cell adhesion and communication, cytosqueleton and cell cycle. The study aimed to compare the expression data of the two transcriptomes to provide some useful insights into signal transduction pathways in oysters and offer a number of candidate genes as potential markers of tolerance to hypoosmotic stress for oysters. In addition, the characterization of C. gigas transcriptome will facilitate research into biological processes underlying physiological adaptations to hypoosmotic shock for marine invertebrates. Twelve Pacific oysters were exposed in low salinity (8‰) seawater and in optimal salinity (25‰) seawater, respectively. Gills from six oysters in each condition were balanced mixed respectively. The transcriptomes of two samples were generated by deep sequencing, using Illumina HiSeq2000.
Project description:To assess the diurnal gene expression in gills of oyster Crassotrea gigas, gills of 6 oysters were pooled and analyzed by RNa-seq every 4h for 52h (i.e. 13 sampling times). This procedure was executed simultaneously for control oysters fed with the non-harmful algae Heterocapsa triquetra (H.t condition), and for oysters fed with the harmful algae Alexandrium minutum (A.m condition) (L:D 9:15). Alexandrium minutum exposure led to a remodeling of the cycling transcriptome in gills of Crassostrea gigas.
Project description:Gametogenesis in an alternative hermaphrodite mollusk, the Pacific Oyster Crassostrea gigas: a microarray-based analysis identifies stage- and sex-specific genes
Project description:Background The Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas (Mollusca, Lophotrochozoa) is an alternative and irregular protandrous hermaphrodite. Little is known about the genetic and phenotypic bases of sex determinism in oysters, and little more about the molecular pathways regulating reproduction. We have recently developed and validated a microarray containing 31,918 oligomers (Dheilly et al., 2011) representing the oyster transcriptome. The application of this microarray to the study of mollusks gametogenesis should provide a better understanding of the key factors involved in sex differentiation and the regulation of oyster reproduction. Results Expression of the 31,918 ESTs was studied in gonads of oysters cultured along the French Atlantic coasts over a yearly reproductive cycle. Principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering first showed a significant divergence in gene expression patterns of males and females beginning when gonial mitosis started. Early expressed male-specific genes included bindin and female-specific genes included foxL2, a pancreatic lipase related protein, cd63 and vitellogenin. ANOVA analysis of the data further revealed 2482 genes differentially expressed during the course of males and/or females gametogenesis. The expression of 434 genes could be localized in either germ cells or somatic cells of the gonad by comparing the transcriptome of gonads to the transcriptomes of striped oocytes and somatic tissues. Analysis of the annotated genes revealed conserved molecular mechanisms between mollusks and mammals. Genes involved in chromatin condensation, DNA replication and repair, mitosis and meiosis regulation, transcription, translation and apoptosis were expressed in both male and female gonads. Additional lists of genes more specifically involved in either spermatogenesis (meiotic phase, in spermatozoids and mature sperm formation and in flagella structure and movement) or oogenesis (female sex differentiation, transcriptional regulation, cell cycle regulation and oocytes maturation) were also generated. Conclusions Our study provides novel insight into spermatogenesis and oogenesis in an alternative hermaphrodite bivalve, the Pacific oyster C. gigas. We identified genes opening new perspectives for functional studies of the signaling pathways implicated in gonad differentiation and development. Individual gonad oysters were sampled in 3 sites: site 1 = Locmariaquer (Brittany, France), site 2 = Baie des Veys (Normandy, France), and site 3 = Argenton (Brittany, France). 8 undifferentiated stage 0 gonads from site 1 were processed. 4 individuals from site 1 were processed for each gonad developmental stage and sex: stage 1 male, stage 1 female, stage 2 male, stage 2 female, stage 3 male, and stage 3 female. Pools of stage 3 females were prepared with individuals from site 1 and site 2 for biological validation of the results. Striped gonads from stage 3 females were prepared for prediction of gene expression localization.