Argopecten scallops are hermaphroditic bivalves and commercially important in aquaculture. Up to now, the molecular mechanism of sex differentiation and gonad growth/maturation in hermaphroditic animals is still largely unknown. In this study, we analyzed the transcriptome of the gonads at different stages of the QN Orange scallop, a new scallop strain selected from the hybrids between the bay scallop and the Peruvian scallop. Among sex differentiation-related genes, 5 transcription factors (TFs) (1 SOX, 2 FOXL and 2 GATA) and 2 TGF-βs (2 BMP) were mainly expressed in the male part and 2 TFs (1 FOXL and 1GATA) and 2 TGF-βs (2 BMP) were mainly expressed in the female part of the gonads. Among gonad growth/maturation related genes, 1 TF (GATA) might be only involved in male gonad growth/maturation, 8 TFs (1 SOX, 1 WNT, 2 FOXL and 4 GATA) and 3 TGF-βs (1 GDF and 2 BMP) only participated in ovarian growth/maturation, 3TFs (1 SOX, 1 DMRT and 1 FOXL) and 2 TGF-βs (1 GDF and 1 BMP) might be involved in both male and female gonad growth/maturation. Based on the results of transcriptome and qRT-PCR, 11 genes were screened to be involved in sex differentiation and 16 genes might be involved in gonad growth/maturation. The results of this study may provide new insights into the understanding of the mechanisms of sex differentiation and gonad growth/maturation in hermaphroditic scallops.

中文翻译：

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不同阶段雌雄同体性腺的转录组学分析揭示了 QN 橙扇贝性别分化和性腺生长/成熟的候选基因

阿尔戈佩坦扇贝是雌雄同体的双壳贝类，在水产养殖中具有重要的商业价值。到目前为止，雌雄同体动物性别分化和性腺生长/成熟的分子机制在很大程度上仍是未知的。在这项研究中，我们分析了 QN 橙扇贝不同阶段性腺的转录组，这是一种新的扇贝品系，选自海湾扇贝和秘鲁扇贝的杂交种。在性别分化相关基因中，5 个转录因子（TFs）（1 个 SOX、2 个 FOXL 和 2 个 GATA）和 2 个 TGF-β（2 个 BMP）主要在男性部分表达，2 个 TFs（1 个 FOXL 和 1GATA）和 2 个TGF-β（2 BMP）主要在性腺的雌性部分表达。在性腺生长/成熟相关基因中，1 个 TF（GATA）可能仅参与雄性性腺生长/成熟，8 个 TF（1 个 SOX，1 个 WNT，2 个 FOXL 和 4 个 GATA）和 3 个 TGF-β（1 个 GDF 和 2 个 BMP）仅参与卵巢生长/成熟，3 个 TF（1 个 SOX、1 个 DMRT 和 1 个 FOXL）和 2 个 TGF-β（1 个 GDF 和 1 个 BMP）可能参与男性和女性性腺的生长/成熟。基于转录组和qRT-PCR的结果，筛选出11个基因参与性别分化，16个基因可能参与性腺生长/成熟。这项研究的结果可能为理解雌雄同体扇贝的性别分化和性腺生长/成熟机制提供新的见解。筛选出11个基因参与性别分化，16个基因可能参与性腺生长/成熟。这项研究的结果可能为理解雌雄同体扇贝的性别分化和性腺生长/成熟机制提供新的见解。筛选出11个基因参与性别分化，16个基因可能参与性腺生长/成熟。这项研究的结果可能为理解雌雄同体扇贝的性别分化和性腺生长/成熟机制提供新的见解。