Comparative Chromatin Accessibility of xol-1 Promoters between Caenorhabditis nigoni and C. briggsae[ATAC-seq]

We performed ATAC-seq on embryonic cells from Caenorhabditis briggsae strains that carried the endogenous Cbr-xol-1 gene and, in parallel, single-copy integrated transgenes of Cni-xol-1 from C. nigoni. To establish a gonochoric background, these strains were crossed with the Cbr-she-1(v49) mutant. Mixed-sex embryos were dissociated into single cells and subjected to ATAC-seq to profile chromatin accessibility. By comparing the accessibility landscapes of the Cni-xol-1 and Cbr-xol-1 promoters, this study aims to reveal cis-regulatory divergence underlying species-specific differences in sex-determination pathways.