Evolutionary differentiation of androgen receptor is responsible for sexual characteristic development in a teleost fish

Yukiko Ogino (), Satoshi Ansai, Eiji Watanabe, Masaki Yasugi, Yukitoshi Katayama, Hirotaka Sakamoto, Keigo Okamoto, Kataaki Okubo, Yasuhiro Yamamoto, Ikuyo Hara, Touko Yamazaki, Ai Kato, Yasuhiro Kamei, Kiyoshi Naruse, Kohei Ohta, Hajime Ogino, Tatsuya Sakamoto, Shinichi Miyagawa, Tomomi Sato, Gen Yamada, Michael E. Baker and Taisen Iguchi
Additional contact information
Yukiko Ogino: Kyushu University
Satoshi Ansai: Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University
Eiji Watanabe: National Institute for Basic Biology
Masaki Yasugi: Utsunomiya University, Utsunomiya
Yukitoshi Katayama: Okayama University, Ushimado
Hirotaka Sakamoto: Okayama University, Ushimado
Keigo Okamoto: Kyushu University
Kataaki Okubo: The University of Tokyo
Yasuhiro Yamamoto: Osaka Medical College
Ikuyo Hara: National Institute for Basic Biology
Touko Yamazaki: National Institute for Basic Biology
Ai Kato: National Institute for Basic Biology
Yasuhiro Kamei: Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI), Hayama
Kiyoshi Naruse: Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI), Hayama
Kohei Ohta: Kyushu University
Hajime Ogino: Hiroshima University
Tatsuya Sakamoto: Okayama University, Ushimado
Shinichi Miyagawa: Tokyo University of Science
Tomomi Sato: Yokohama City University
Gen Yamada: Wakayama Medical University
Michael E. Baker: School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego
Taisen Iguchi: Yokohama City University

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Abstract Teleost fishes exhibit complex sexual characteristics in response to androgens, such as fin enlargement and courtship display. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying their evolutionary acquisition remain largely unknown. To address this question, we analyse medaka (Oryzias latipes) mutants deficient in teleost-specific androgen receptor ohnologs (ara and arb). We discovered that neither ar ohnolog was required for spermatogenesis, whilst they appear to be functionally redundant for the courtship display in males. However, both were required for reproductive success: ara for tooth enlargement and the reproductive behaviour eliciting female receptivity, arb for male-specific fin morphogenesis and sexual motivation. We further showed that differences between the two ar ohnologs in their transcription, cellular localisation of their encoded proteins, and their downstream genetic programmes could be responsible for the phenotypic diversity between the ara and arb mutants. These findings suggest that the ar ohnologs have diverged in two ways: first, through the loss of their roles in spermatogenesis and second, through gene duplication followed by functional differentiation that has likely resolved the pleiotropic roles derived from their ancestral gene. Thus, our results provide insights into how genome duplication impacts the massive diversification of sexual characteristics in the teleost lineage.

Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-37026-6

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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37026-6

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