lncRNA DMRT2-AS acts as a transcriptional regulator of dmrt2 involving in sex differentiation in the Chinese tongue sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis).

Bo Feng, Shuo Li, Qian Wang, Lili Tang, Fei Huang, Zhihua Zhang, Shahid Mahboobe, Changwei Shao

Comparative biochemistry and physiology. Part B, Biochemistry & molecular biology 2021 Apr-May

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Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) contribute to various biological processes, including sexual development. As a member of the DMRT family, dmrt2 plays a very important role in sex determination and differentiation. In this study, we cloned and characterized the lncRNA DMRT2-AS (referred to as dmrt2 antisense) associated with dmrt2 from the gonads of the Chinese tongue sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis). The full-length cDNA of DMRT2-AS was 537 bp. Based on a sequence alignment, DMRT2-AS overlapped with dmrt2 in reverse on exon 4 and intron 3, with a region of overlap of 221 bp on exon 4. RT-qPCR showed that DMRT2-AS was highly expressed in the testis of Chinese tongue sole. In addition, the expression of DMRT2-AS increased continuously during male gonadal development. In vitro experiments and bioinformatics predictions showed that DMRT2-AS promoted the expression of dmrt2 at the transcriptional level. These results suggest that DMRT2-AS acts as a transcriptional regulator of dmrt2 and plays an important role in the gonadal differentiation of male. Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Citation

Bo Feng, Shuo Li, Qian Wang, Lili Tang, Fei Huang, Zhihua Zhang, Shahid Mahboobe, Changwei Shao. lncRNA DMRT2-AS acts as a transcriptional regulator of dmrt2 involving in sex differentiation in the Chinese tongue sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis). Comparative biochemistry and physiology. Part B, Biochemistry & molecular biology. 2021 Apr-May;253:110542