AUTHOR=Sun Yuxuan , Zhang Mengqian , Cheng Peng , Gong Zhihong , Li Xihong , Wang Na , Wei Min , Xu Xiaodong , Xu Wenteng 

TITLE=pitpβ_w Encoding Phosphatidylinositol Transfer Protein Is Involved in Female Differentiation of Chinese Tongue Sole, Cynoglossus semilaevis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Genetics

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2022.861763

DOI=10.3389/fgene.2022.861763

ISSN=1664-8021

ABSTRACT=<p>Phosphatidylinositol transfer protein (pitp) plays an important role in phospholipid transfer in animals. A pitp variant (<italic>pitpβ_w</italic>) in Chinese tongue sole was identified by transcriptomic analysis for its female-biased expression. The coding sequence of <italic>pitpβ_w</italic> was 816 bp, encoding a 371-amino-acid protein. <italic>pitpβ_w</italic> showed female-biased expression and was relatively high in brain, muscle, and ovary tissues. In different developmental stages of the ovary, <italic>pitpβ_w</italic> could be detected from 40 days until 3 years post hatching, and the highest expression was observed at 90 days. <italic>In situ</italic> hybridization revealed that <italic>pitpβ_w</italic> was predominantly localized in early-stage oocytes (I–III stages). After siRNA-mediated knockdown of <italic>pitpβ_w</italic> in an ovarian cell line, the expression of <italic>sox9a</italic> was reduced, while that of <italic>figla_tv1</italic> and <italic>sox9b</italic> was significantly increased. Our findings suggest that <italic>pitpβ_w</italic> might be involved in female differentiation and early oogenesis.</p>