TY  - JOUR
A1  - Höhne, Christin
A1  - Prokopov, Dmitry
A1  - Kuhl, Heiner
A1  - Du, Kang
A1  - Klopp, Christophe
A1  - Wuertz, Sven
A1  - Trifonov, Vladimir
A1  - Stöck, Matthias
T1  - The immune system of sturgeons and paddlefish (Acipenseriformes): a review with new data from a chromosome‐scale sturgeon genome
JF  - Reviews in Aquaculture
N2  - Sturgeon immunity is relevant for basic evolutionary and applied research, including caviar‐ and meat‐producing aquaculture, protection of wild sturgeons and their re‐introduction through conservation aquaculture. Starting from a comprehensive overview of immune organs, we discuss pathways of innate and adaptive immune systems in a vertebrate phylogenetic and genomic context. The thymus as a key organ of adaptive immunity in sturgeons requires future molecular studies. Likewise, data on immune functions of sturgeon‐specific pericardial and meningeal tissues are largely missing. Integrating immunological and endocrine functions, the sturgeon head kidney resembles that of teleosts. Recently identified pattern recognition receptors in sturgeon require research on downstream regulation. We review first acipenseriform data on Toll‐like receptors (TLRs), type I transmembrane glycoproteins expressed in membranes and endosomes, initiating inflammation and host defence by molecular pattern‐induced activation. Retinoic acid‐inducible gene‐I‐like (RIG‐like) receptors of sturgeons present RNA and key sensors of virus infections in most cell types. Sturgeons and teleosts share major components of the adaptive immune system, including B cells, immunoglobulins, major histocompatibility complex and the adaptive cellular response by T cells. The ontogeny of the sturgeon innate and onset of adaptive immune genes in different organs remain understudied. In a genomics perspective, our new data on 100 key immune genes exemplify a multitude of evolutionary trajectories after the sturgeon‐specific genome duplication, where some single‐copy genes contrast with many duplications, allowing tissue specialization, sub‐functionalization or both. Our preliminary conclusion should be tested by future evolutionary bioinformatics, involving all >1000 immunity genes. This knowledge update about the acipenseriform immune system identifies several important research gaps and presents a basis for future applications.
KW  - evolution
KW  - genomics
KW  - immune genes
KW  - immune organs
KW  - immune system
KW  - sturgeon
Y1  - 2021
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-239865
VL  - 13
IS  - 3
SP  - 1709
EP  - 1729
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Kuhl, Heiner
A1  - Guiguen, Yann
A1  - Höhne, Christin
A1  - Kreuz, Eva
A1  - Du, Kang
A1  - Klopp, Christophe
A1  - Lopez-Roques,, Céline
A1  - Yebra-Pimentel, Elena Santidrian
A1  - Ciorpac, Mitica
A1  - Gessner, Jörn
A1  - Holostenco, Daniela
A1  - Kleiner, Wibke
A1  - Kohlmann, Klaus
A1  - Lamatsch, Dunja K.
A1  - Prokopov, Dmitry
A1  - Bestin, Anastasia
A1  - Bonpunt, Emmanuel
A1  - Debeuf, Bastien
A1  - Haffray, Pierrick
A1  - Morvezen, Romain
A1  - Patrice, Pierre
A1  - Suciu, Radu
A1  - Dirks, Ron
A1  - Wuertz, Sven
A1  - Kloas, Werner
A1  - Schartl, Manfred
A1  - Stöck, Matthias
T1  - A 180 Myr-old female-specific genome region in sturgeon reveals the oldest known vertebrate sex determining system with undifferentiated sex chromosomes
JF  - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B
N2  - Several hypotheses explain the prevalence of undifferentiated sex chromosomes in poikilothermic vertebrates. Turnovers change the master sex determination gene, the sex chromosome or the sex determination system (e.g. XY to WZ). Jumping master genes stay main triggers but translocate to other chromosomes. Occasional recombination (e.g. in sex-reversed females) prevents sex chromosome degeneration. Recent research has uncovered conserved heteromorphic or even homomorphic sex chromosomes in several clades of non-avian and non-mammalian vertebrates. Sex determination in sturgeons (Acipenseridae) has been a long-standing basic biological question, linked to economical demands by the caviar-producing aquaculture. Here, we report the discovery of a sex-specific sequence from sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus). Using chromosome-scale assemblies and pool-sequencing, we first identified an approximately 16 kb female-specific region. We developed a PCR-genotyping test, yielding female-specific products in six species, spanning the entire phylogeny with the most divergent extant lineages (A. sturio, A. oxyrinchus versus A. ruthenus, Huso huso), stemming from an ancient tetraploidization. Similar results were obtained in two octoploid species (A. gueldenstaedtii, A. baerii). Conservation of a female-specific sequence for a long period, representing 180 Myr of sturgeon evolution, and across at least one polyploidization event, raises many interesting biological questions. We discuss a conserved undifferentiated sex chromosome system with a ZZ/ZW-mode of sex determination and potential alternatives.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Challenging the paradigm in sex chromosome evolution: empirical and theoretical insights with a focus on vertebrates (Part I)’.
KW  - acipenseridae
KW  - sturgeon
KW  - sex chromosomes
KW  - female-specific
KW  - polyploidy
KW  - evolution
Y1  - 2021
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-363050
VL  - 376
ER  -