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Analysis of mRNA and MicroRNA Expression Profiles of Nervous Tissues and Reproductive Tissues in Male Procambarus clarkii After Silencing IAG

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Abstract

The insulin-like androgenic gland hormone gene (IAG), primarily expressed in the androgenic gland (AG), plays a crucial role in controlling male sex differentiation and maintaining male secondary sexual characteristics in decapods. In this study, we investigated the mRNA and microRNA expression profiles of male Procambarus clarkii to understand the transcriptomic regulatory mechanism of IAG after the injection of an efficient siRNA (GsiRNA) designed based on IAG. The results revealed that several differentially expressed genes were enriched in reproduction-related pathways, such as the wnt signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, and GnRH signaling pathway. In the testis (Te), the injection of GsiRNA led to the up-regulation of many ovary-related genes and down-regulation of testis-related genes. Moreover, the brain (Br) and abdominal nerve cord (AN) appeared to be involved in the regulation of IAG, with numerous differentially expressed genes found in Br and AN. Notably, the expression of five neuropeptide genes, Crustacean hyperglycemic hormone, pigment-dispersing hormone, red pigment concentrating hormone precursor, corazonin, and gonadotropin-releasing hormone II receptor isoform X1 in Br/AN, was significantly changed. Additionally, three ovary-related miRNAs (miR-263a, miR-263b, miR-133) highly expressed in Te/AG showed significant up-regulation after GsiRNA injection. Furthermore, the long-term interference of GsiRNA was found to inhibit the development of male external sexual characteristics during the juvenile stage and delay it during the adult stage. This research provides valuable insights into the molecular regulatory mechanism and function of IAG in P. clarkii.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on the reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was supported by Fishery Seed Industry Joint Breeding Program of Jiangxi Province (2023yyzygg-07) and the Key Research and Development Program of Hubei Province (2021BBA232).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Fisheries, Key Lab of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Ministry of Education, Key Lab of Freshwater Animal Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affair, Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, Hubei, China

    Rong Sun, Linlin Shi, Ruixue Shi, Siqi Yang & Yanhe Li

  2. School of Life Sciences, Huzhou University, Huzhou, 313000, Zhejiang, China

    Shaokui Yi

  3. College of Marine Sciences, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Beibu Gulf Marine Biodiversity Conservation, Beibu Gulf University, Qinzhou, 535011, Guangxi, China

    Kianann Tan

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  1. Rong Sun
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  2. Shaokui Yi
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Contributions

RS: methodology, investigation, writing (original draft), and formal analysis. SY: writing (review and editing). LS: investigation and writing (review and editing). KT: writing (review and editing). RS: investigation and writing (review and editing). SY: writing (review and editing). YL: project administration, supervision, resources, and writing (review and editing).

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Correspondence to Yanhe Li.

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Sun, R., Yi, S., Shi, L. et al. Analysis of mRNA and MicroRNA Expression Profiles of Nervous Tissues and Reproductive Tissues in Male Procambarus clarkii After Silencing IAG. Mar Biotechnol 25, 983–996 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-023-10254-z

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