Comparative transcriptome analysis of heat-induced domesticated zebrafish during gonadal differentiation

Background The influence of environmental factors, especially temperature, on sex ratio is of great significance to elucidate the mechanism of sex determination. However, the molecular mechanisms by which temperature affects sex determination remains unclear, although a few candidate genes have been found to play a role in the process. In this study, we conducted transcriptome analysis of the effects induced by high temperature on zebrafish during gonad differentiation period. Results Totals of 1171, 1022 and 2921 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between high temperature and normal temperature were identified at 35, 45 and 60 days post-fertilization (dpf) respectively, revealing that heat shock proteins (HSPs) and DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) were involved in the heat-exposed sex reversal. The Gene Ontology (GO) terms and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway that were enriched in individuals after heat treatment included Fanconi anemia (FA) pathway, cell cycle, oocyte meiosis and homologous recombination. Conclusions Our study provides the results of comparative transcriptome analyses between high temperature and normal temperature, and reveals that the molecular mechanism of heat-induced masculinization in zebrafish is strongly related to the expression of HSPs and DNMTs and FA pathway during gonad differentiation.