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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Aquatic Physiology
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1506646

Transcriptome and metabolome analysis of intersex gonads of redclaw crayfish (Cherax quadricarinatus)

Provisionally accepted
Ruiqi He Ruiqi He Chuntai Nong Chuntai Nong Yibin Chen Yibin Chen Sedong Li Sedong Li Huapu Chen Huapu Chen *
  • Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The redclaw crayfish is sexually dimorphic, with males preferring females in terms of growth rate and size. Currently, the molecular mechanism of sexual dimorphism is not well understood in crustaceans, and studies on the joint analysis of the gonadal metabolome and transcriptome of male and female individuals of redclaw crayfish are limited. In this study, we found that there were differences in relevant metabolites and metabolic pathways between intersex and normal individuals, including metabolites such as testosterone glucuronide, cortisol, pregnenolone sulfate, and estrone glucuronide, as well as steroid hormone synthesis pathways, lipid metabolism pathways, amino acid metabolism and other metabolic pathways. The joint analysis of metabolome and transcriptome identified differential genes such as cyp3a40, cyp18a1, hsd17b12b, and cyp19a, and co-enriched pathways such as insulin signaling pathway, TGF-β signaling pathway, and FoxO signaling pathway, indicating that they may play a significant role in sex differentiation of redclaw crayfish. Our results provide a reference for the molecular mechanism of gonadal development between male and female individuals of redclaw crayfish.

    Keywords: intersexuality, Cherax quadricarinatus, Metabolism, Transcriptome, Pathway

    Received: 05 Oct 2024; Accepted: 19 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 He, Nong, Chen, Li and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Huapu Chen, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, China

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