BACKGROUND The commonly used laboratory rat, Rattus norvegicus, is unique in having multiple Sry gene copies found on the Y chromosome, with different copies encoding amino acid variations that influence the resulting protein function. It is not clear which Sry genes are expressed at the onset of testis differentiation or how their expression correlates with that of other genes in testis-determination pathways. METHODS Here, two independent E11-E14 developmental RNAseq datasets show that multiple Sry genes are expressed at E12-E13. RESULTS The identified copies expressed during testis initiation include Sry4A, Sry1, and Sry3C, which are conserved in every strain of Rattus norvegicus with genomes sequenced to date. CONCLUSIONS This work represents a first step in defining the complex environment of rat testis differentiation that can open the door for generating sex reversal model systems using embryo manipulation techniques that have been available in the mouse but not the rat.

中文翻译：

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大鼠睾丸分化开始时多个Sry基因的转录分析和发育程序。

背景技术常用的实验鼠Rattus norvegicus独特之处在于在Y染色体上发现了多个Sry基因拷贝，而不同拷贝编码的氨基酸变异会影响所得蛋白质的功能。目前尚不清楚哪些Sry基因在睾丸分化开始时表达，或者它们的表达与其他基因在睾丸决定通路中的关系如何。方法在这里，两个独立的E11-E14发育RNAseq数据集显示，多个Sry基因在E12-E13处表达。结果在睾丸起始过程中表达的鉴定出的拷贝包括Sry4A，Sry1和Sry3C，它们在每只褐家鼠菌株中均具有保守的基因组。