Over het archief
Het OWA, het open archief van het Waterbouwkundig Laboratorium heeft tot doel alle vrij toegankelijke onderzoeksresultaten van dit instituut in digitale vorm aan te bieden. Op die manier wil het de zichtbaarheid, verspreiding en gebruik van deze onderzoeksresultaten, alsook de wetenschappelijke communicatie maximaal bevorderen.
Dit archief wordt uitgebouwd en beheerd volgens de principes van de Open Access Movement, en het daaruit ontstane Open Archives Initiative.
Basisinformatie over ‘Open Access to scholarly information'.
Uncovering the genetic basis for early isogamete differentiation: a case study of Ectocarpus siliculosus
Lipinska, A.P.; D'Hondt, S.; Van Damme, E.J.M.; De Clerck, O. (2013). Uncovering the genetic basis for early isogamete differentiation: a case study of Ectocarpus siliculosus. BMC Genom. 14. dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2164-14-909
In: BMC Genomics. BioMed Central: London. e-ISSN 1471-2164, meer
|   |
| Trefwoorden |
Ectocarpus Lyngbye, 1819 [WoRMS]
Marien/Kust |
| Author keywords |
Gamete; Transcriptome; Ectocarpus; Sexual reproduction; Isogamy; Brownalga; Signaling |
| Abstract |
BackgroundThe phenomenon of sexual reproduction characterizes nearly all eukaryotes, with anisogamy being the most prevalent form of gamete discrimination. Since dimorphic gametes most likely descend from equal-sized specialized germ cells, identifying the genetic bases of the early functional diversification in isogametes can provide better understanding of the evolution of sexual dimorphism. However, despite the potential importance to the evolutionary biology field, no comprehensive survey of the transcriptome profiling in isomorphic gametes has been reported hitherto.ResultsGamete differentiation on the genomic level was investigated using Ectocarpus siliculosus, a model organism for brown algal lineage which displays an isogamous sexual reproduction cycle. Transcriptome libraries of male and female gametes were generated using Next Generation Sequencing technology (SOLiD) and analyzed to identify differentially regulated genes and pathways with potential roles in fertilization and gamete specialization. Gamete transcriptomes showed a high level of complexity with a large portion of gender specific gene expression. Our results indicate that over 4,000 of expressed genes are differentially regulated between male and female, including sequences related to cell movement, carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, signaling, transport and RNA processing.ConclusionsThis first comprehensive transcriptomic study of protist isogametes describes considerable adaptation to distinct sexual roles, suggesting that functional anisogamy precedes morphological differentiation. Several sex-biased genes and pathways with a putative role in reproduction were identified, providing the basis for more detailed investigations of the mechanisms underlying evolution of mating types and sexual dimorphism. |
IMIS is ontwikkeld en wordt gehost door het VLIZ.
