Environmental stress-induced testis differentiation: Androgen as a by-product of cortisol inactivation

Fernandino, Juan Ignacio; Hattori, Ricardo Shohei; Acosta, Omar D Moreno; Strüssmann, Carlos Augusto; Somoza, Gustavo M.

doi:10.1016/j.ygcen.2013.05.024

Cited by 122 publications

(94 citation statements)

References 128 publications

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“…In the pejerrey, cortisol interacts with the glucocorticoid response element in the promoter of the 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (hsd11β2) gene, a key enzyme that is shared between the glucocorticoid and androgen pathways, increasing its expression. This led Fernandino et al, (2012Fernandino et al, ( , 2013 to suggest that while increased hsd11β2 expression contributes to the degradation of cortisol to cortisone, it also helps to convert 11β-hydroxyandrogens into 11-ketotestosreone, the typical teleost androgen, with more masculinizing potency than testosterone (Piferrer et al, 1993). In contrast, in the Japanese flounder, it was suggested that cortisol suppressed gonadal aromatase (cyp19a1a) expression by blocking the cAMP response element located in the cyp19a1a promoter .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the proper rearing density in domesticated zebrafish to avoid unwanted masculinization. Links with the stress response

Ribas

Valdivieso

Díaz

et al. 2017

Journal of Experimental Biology

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The zebrafish (Danio rerio) has become a well-established experimental model in many research fields but the loss of the primary sex-determining region during the process of domestication renders laboratory strains of zebrafish susceptible to the effects of environmental factors on sex ratios. Further, an essential husbandry aspect -the optimal rearing density to avoid stress-induced masculinization -is not known. We carried out two experiments: the first focusing on the effects of density on survival, growth and sex ratio by rearing zebrafish at different initial densities (9, 19, 37 and 74 fish per litre) for 3 months (6-90 days post-fertilization, dpf ), and the second focusing on the effects of cortisol during the sex differentiation period (15-45 dpf) for zebrafish reared at low density. The results showed an increase in the number of males in groups subjected to the two highest initial rearing densities; we also observed a reduction of survival and growth in a density-dependent manner. Furthermore, zebrafish treated with cortisol during the sex differentiation period showed a complete masculinization of the population; treatment with the cortisol synthesis inhibitor metyrapone negated the effects of exogenous cortisol. Our results indicate that the process of sex differentiation in domesticated zebrafish can be perturbed by elevated stocking density and that this effect is likely to be mediated by an increase in cortisol through the stress response. However, the underlying mechanism needs further study.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the proper rearing density in domesticated zebrafish to avoid unwanted masculinization. Links with the stress response

Ribas

Valdivieso

Díaz

et al. 2017

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…Temperature modulation of sex determination has been reported for many teleosts based on the results of laboratory experiments (Fernandino, Hattori, Acosta, Strüssmann, & Somoza, 2013; Strüssmann & Patiño, 1998), but temperature‐dependent sex reversal in the wild is still controversial. It has been suggested to occur in species of silversides of the genera Menidia and Odontesthes (Conover & Fleisher, 1986; Middaugh & Hemmer, 1987; Strüssmann et al., 2010) based on the observation of biased sex ratios, but a direct proof is not yet available.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Demonstration of viability and fertility and development of a molecular tool to identify YY supermales in a fish with both genotypic and environmental sex determination

Tashiro

Zhang

Kakuta

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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The pejerrey possesses a genotypic sex determination system driven by the amhy gene and yet shows marked temperature‐dependent sex determination. Sex‐reversed XY females have been found in a naturally breeding population established in Lake Kasumigaura, Japan. These females could mate with normal XY males and generate YY “supermale” individuals that, if viable and fertile, would sire only genotypic male offspring. This study was conducted to verify the viability, gender, and fertility of YY pejerrey and to develop a molecular method for their identification. Production of YY fish was attempted by crossing a thermally sex‐reversed XY female and an XY male, and rearing the progeny until sexual maturation. To identify the presumable YY individuals, we first conducted a PCR analysis using amhy‐specific primers to screen only amhy‐positive (XY and YY) fish. This screening showed that 60.6% of the progeny was amhy‐positive, which suggested the presence of YY fish. We then conducted a second screening by qPCR in order to identify the individuals with two amhy copies in their genome. This screening revealed 13 individuals, all males, with values twice higher than the other 30 amhy‐positive fishes, suggesting they have a YY complement. This assumption as well as the viability, fertility, and “supermale” nature of these individuals was confirmed in progeny tests with XX females that yielded 100% amhy‐positive offspring. These results demonstrate that qPCR can obviate progeny test as a means to identify the genotypic sex and therefore may be useful for the survey of all three possible genotypes in wild populations.

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“…Elevated temperatures and other environmental stressors cause gonadal masculinisation in various gonochoristic fishes via increased cortisol levels causing downregulation of aromatase and activation of androgen pathways [Hattori et al, 2009;Hayashi et al, 2010;Yamaguchi et al, 2010; reviewed by Fernandino et al, 2013]. Cortisol is thought to stimulate 11β-HSD expression, which catalyses the production of both 11-KT and cortisone, the deactivated metabolite of cortisol [Fernandino et al, 2012[Fernandino et al, , 2013.…”

Section: Sex Change and The Stress Responsementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cortisol is thought to stimulate 11β-HSD expression, which catalyses the production of both 11-KT and cortisone, the deactivated metabolite of cortisol [Fernandino et al, 2012[Fernandino et al, , 2013. There is accumulating evidence that, by influencing steroidogenic gene expression and communicating environmental and social status information along the HPI axis, cortisol plays a role in regulating natural sex change in sequential hermaphrodites [Solomon-Lane et al, 2013].…”

Section: Sex Change and The Stress Responsementioning

confidence: 99%

Bending Genders: The Biology of Natural Sex Change in Fish

Todd

Hui

Muncaster

et al. 2016

Sex Dev

119

126

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Sexual fate is no longer seen as an irreversible deterministic switch set during early embryonic development but as an ongoing battle for primacy between male and female developmental trajectories. That sexual fate is not final and must be actively maintained via continuous suppression of the opposing sexual network creates the potential for flexibility into adulthood. In many fishes, sexuality is not only extremely plastic, but sex change is a usual and adaptive part of the life cycle. Sequential hermaphrodites begin life as one sex, changing sometime later to the other, and include species capable of protandrous (male-to-female), protogynous (female-to-male), or serial (bidirectional) sex change. Natural sex change involves coordinated transformations across multiple biological systems, including behavioural, anatomical, neuroendocrine, and molecular axes. We here review the biological processes underlying this amazing transformation, focussing particularly on its molecular basis, which remains poorly understood, but where new genomic technologies are significantly advancing our understanding of how sex change is initiated and progressed at the molecular level. Knowledge of how a usually committed developmental process remains plastic in sequentially hermaphroditic fishes is relevant to understanding the evolution and functioning of sexual developmental systems in vertebrates generally, as well as pathologies of sexual development in humans.

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Environmental stress-induced testis differentiation: Androgen as a by-product of cortisol inactivation

Cited by 122 publications

References 128 publications

On the proper rearing density in domesticated zebrafish to avoid unwanted masculinization. Links with the stress response

On the proper rearing density in domesticated zebrafish to avoid unwanted masculinization. Links with the stress response

Demonstration of viability and fertility and development of a molecular tool to identify YY supermales in a fish with both genotypic and environmental sex determination

Bending Genders: The Biology of Natural Sex Change in Fish

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