Eriocheir sinensis feminization-1c (Fem-1c) and Its Predicted miRNAs Involved in Sexual Development and Regulation

• Published in: Animals (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 11; p. 1813
• Main Authors: Zhu, Dandan, Feng, Tianyi, Mo, Nan, Han, Rui, Lu, Wentao, Cui, Zhaoxia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 30.05.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Alternative splicing; Binding; Crustaceans; Differentiation; Eriocheir sinensis; Exons; feminization-1c; Gene expression; intersex; Introns; Males; MicroRNAs; miRNA; Ovaries; Polymerase chain reaction; Proteins; RNA-mediated interference; Roles; Scanning electron microscopy; Sex differentiation; Sperm; Spermatogenesis; Translation; Beijing China; United States > US; China; Japan
• ISSN: 2076-2615; 2076-2615
• DOI: 10.3390/ani13111813

Feminization-1c (Fem-1c) is important for sex differentiation in the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. In our previous study, the basic molecular characteristics of the Fem-1c gene (EsFem-1c) in Eriocheir sinensis (Henri Milne Edwards, 1854) were cloned to determine the relationship with sex differentiation. In this study, the genomic sequence of EsFem-1c contained five exons and four introns, with an exceptionally long 3′UTR sequence. The qRT-PCR results of EsFem-1c demonstrated lower tissue expression in the androgenic gland of the intersex crab than the normal male crab, implying that EsFem-1c plays a role in crab AG development. RNA interference experiments and morphological observations of juvenile and mature crabs indicated that EsFem-1c influences sexual development in E. sinensis. A dual-luciferase reporter assay disclosed that tcf-miR-315-5p effectively inhibits the translation of the EsFem-1c gene, influencing male development. An intriguing finding was that miRNA tcf-miR-307 could increase EsFem-1c expression by binding to the alternative splicing region with a length of 248 bp (ASR-248) in the 3′UTR sequence. The present research contributes to a better understanding of the molecular regulation mechanism of EsFem-1c and provides a resource for future studies of the miRNA-mediated regulation of sexual development and regulation in E. sinensis.