文献类型： 外文期刊

作者： Li, Jianbo ¹ ; Zhang, Xiuan ¹ ; Wang, Xiqiong ¹ ; Wang, Zhen ⁴ ; Li, Xingzheng ⁴ ; Zheng, Jiangxia ¹ ; Li, Junying ¹ ; Xu, Guiyun ¹ ; Sun, Congjiao ¹ ; Yi, Guoqiang ⁴ ; Yang, Ning ¹ ;

作者机构： 1.China Agr Univ, Coll Anim Sci & Technol, Dept Anim Genet & Breeding, Beijing 100193, Peoples R China

2.China Agr Univ, Natl Engn Lab Anim Breeding, Minist Agr & Rural Affairs, Beijing 100193, Peoples R China

3.China Agr Univ, Key Lab Anim Genet Breeding & Reprod, Minist Agr & Rural Affairs, Beijing 100193, Peoples R China

4.Chinese Acad Agr Sci, Agr Genom Inst Shenzhen, Key Lab Livestock & Poultry Multiom MARA, Shenzhen Branch,Guangdong Lab Lingnan Modern Agr,K, Shenzhen 518124, Peoples R China

关键词： Chicken; Embryonic gonad; Sex determination and differentiation; Single-nucleus RNA-seq; Single-nucleus ATAC-seq

期刊名称：JOURNAL OF ADVANCED RESEARCH （ 影响因子：13.0； 五年影响因子：11.6 ）

ISSN： 2090-1232

年卷期： 2025 年 70 卷

页码：

收录情况： SCI

摘要： Introduction: Understanding the sex determination mechanisms in birds has great significance for the biological sciences and production in the poultry industry. Sex determination in chickens is a complex process that involves fate decisions of supporting cells such as granulosa or Sertoli cells. However, a systematic understanding of the genetic regulation and cell commitment process underlying sex determination in chickens is still lacking. Objectives: We aimed to dissect the molecular characteristics associated with sex determination in the gonads of chicken embryos. Methods: Single-nucleus RNA-seq (snRNA-seq) and ATAC-seq (snATAC-seq) analysis were conducted on the gonads of female and male chickens at embryonic day 3.5 (E3.5), E4.5, and E5.5. Results: Here, we provided a time-course transcriptional and chromatin accessible profiling of gonads during chicken sex determination at single-cell resolution. We uncovered differences in cell composition and developmental trajectories between female and male gonads and found that the divergence of transcription and accessibility in gonadal cells first emerged at E5.5. Furthermore, we revealed key cell-type specific transcription factors (TFs) and regulatory networks that drive lineage commitment. Sex determination signaling pathways, dominated by BMP signaling, are preferentially activated in males during gonadal development. Further pseudotime analysis of the supporting cells indicated that granulosa cells were regulated mainly by the TEAD gene family and that Sertoli cells were driven by the DMRT1 regulons. Cross-species analysis suggested high conservation of both cell types and cell-lineage-specific TFs across the six vertebrates. Conclusions: Overall, our study will contribute to accelerating the development of sex manipulation technology in the poultry industry and the application of chickens as a unique model for studying cell fate decisions. (c) 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Cairo University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).