Participation of androgen and its receptor in sex determination of an amphibian species.

<h4>Introduction</h4>In the Japanese frog Rana (R.) rugosa the androgen receptor (AR) gene on the W chromosome (W-AR) is barely expressed. Previously we showed that incomplete female-to-male sex-reversal occurred in Z-AR transgenic female frogs. To date, however, there is no report showi...

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Main Authors: Akira Oike, Maho Kodama, Shigeki Yasumasu, Takashi Yamamoto, Yoriko Nakamura, Etsuro Ito, Masahisa Nakamura
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2017-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0178067&type=printable
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author Akira Oike
Maho Kodama
Shigeki Yasumasu
Takashi Yamamoto
Yoriko Nakamura
Etsuro Ito
Masahisa Nakamura
author_facet Akira Oike
Maho Kodama
Shigeki Yasumasu
Takashi Yamamoto
Yoriko Nakamura
Etsuro Ito
Masahisa Nakamura
author_sort Akira Oike
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Introduction</h4>In the Japanese frog Rana (R.) rugosa the androgen receptor (AR) gene on the W chromosome (W-AR) is barely expressed. Previously we showed that incomplete female-to-male sex-reversal occurred in Z-AR transgenic female frogs. To date, however, there is no report showing that AR with androgens can determine genetically programed male sex fate in any vertebrate species. Here, we examined whether AR together with androgens functions as a sex determinant in an amphibian species.<h4>Methods</h4>To examine whether complete female-to-male sex-reversal occurs in R. rugosa frogs, we produced AR-transgenic (Tg) and -knockdown (KD) female R. rugosa frogs by the I-SceI meganuclease-mediated gene trap and CRISPR/Cas9 system, respectively. AR-Tg and -KD tadpoles were reared in water containing testosterone (T) at 0 to 7.1 ng/ml. Frozen sections were prepared from the gonads of metamorphosed frogs and immunostained for laminin, Vasa, Pat1a, CYP17 and AR. We also employed PCR analysis to examine Dmrt1, Pat1a and CYP17 expression in the gonads of KD and placebo-KD female frogs.<h4>Results</h4>Complete female-to-male sex-reversal occurred in the AR-Tg ZW female frogs when a low dosage of T was supplied in the rearing water of tadpoles. However, no sex-reversal was observed in AR-KD ZW female frogs when the gonads were treated with dosages of T high enough to induce complete female-to-male sex-reversal even in wild type frogs.<h4>Discussion</h4>These results suggest that AR with its androgen ligand functions as a male sex-determinant in the ZW type R. rugosa frogs.
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spelling doaj-art-3f0af38837f247bb970b65f10bf166d92025-08-20T02:03:48ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032017-01-01126e017806710.1371/journal.pone.0178067Participation of androgen and its receptor in sex determination of an amphibian species.Akira OikeMaho KodamaShigeki YasumasuTakashi YamamotoYoriko NakamuraEtsuro ItoMasahisa Nakamura<h4>Introduction</h4>In the Japanese frog Rana (R.) rugosa the androgen receptor (AR) gene on the W chromosome (W-AR) is barely expressed. Previously we showed that incomplete female-to-male sex-reversal occurred in Z-AR transgenic female frogs. To date, however, there is no report showing that AR with androgens can determine genetically programed male sex fate in any vertebrate species. Here, we examined whether AR together with androgens functions as a sex determinant in an amphibian species.<h4>Methods</h4>To examine whether complete female-to-male sex-reversal occurs in R. rugosa frogs, we produced AR-transgenic (Tg) and -knockdown (KD) female R. rugosa frogs by the I-SceI meganuclease-mediated gene trap and CRISPR/Cas9 system, respectively. AR-Tg and -KD tadpoles were reared in water containing testosterone (T) at 0 to 7.1 ng/ml. Frozen sections were prepared from the gonads of metamorphosed frogs and immunostained for laminin, Vasa, Pat1a, CYP17 and AR. We also employed PCR analysis to examine Dmrt1, Pat1a and CYP17 expression in the gonads of KD and placebo-KD female frogs.<h4>Results</h4>Complete female-to-male sex-reversal occurred in the AR-Tg ZW female frogs when a low dosage of T was supplied in the rearing water of tadpoles. However, no sex-reversal was observed in AR-KD ZW female frogs when the gonads were treated with dosages of T high enough to induce complete female-to-male sex-reversal even in wild type frogs.<h4>Discussion</h4>These results suggest that AR with its androgen ligand functions as a male sex-determinant in the ZW type R. rugosa frogs.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0178067&type=printable
spellingShingle Akira Oike
Maho Kodama
Shigeki Yasumasu
Takashi Yamamoto
Yoriko Nakamura
Etsuro Ito
Masahisa Nakamura
Participation of androgen and its receptor in sex determination of an amphibian species.
PLoS ONE
title Participation of androgen and its receptor in sex determination of an amphibian species.
title_full Participation of androgen and its receptor in sex determination of an amphibian species.
title_fullStr Participation of androgen and its receptor in sex determination of an amphibian species.
title_full_unstemmed Participation of androgen and its receptor in sex determination of an amphibian species.
title_short Participation of androgen and its receptor in sex determination of an amphibian species.
title_sort participation of androgen and its receptor in sex determination of an amphibian species
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0178067&type=printable
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