Gonad Transcriptome of Pinctada margaritifera. Pinctada margaritifera

Pearl farming, the second principal economic resource for French Polynesia, is based on the exploitation of the blacklip pearl oyster Pinctada margaritifera (Mollusca, lophotrochozoa) which is a protandrous hermaphrodite species: at the first maturation all oysters are males and the female sex appears progressively from around two years old to eventually reach a 1:1 sex-ratio. Today, genetic bases of sexual determinism and sexual differentiation including their molecular pathways in pearl oyster are still unknown. To better understand these molecular mechanisms whereby gene expression may act in sexual dimorphism and to develop a database for future reproduction studies, we performed a gonad transcriptomic analysis of this commercially important species.

珍珠养殖作为法属波利尼西亚的第二大核心经济支柱产业，其产业依托于黑唇珍珠贝（Pinctada margaritifera，软体动物门，冠轮动物）的养殖开发。该物种为雄性先熟雌雄同体：个体初次成熟时均为雄性，约两岁起雌性性状逐步显现，最终种群性别比例趋近1:1。目前，珍珠贝的性别决定与性别分化的遗传基础，包括其相关分子通路机制，仍未明确。为深入解析调控性别二态性的基因表达分子机制，并为后续繁殖相关研究构建专用数据库，我们针对这一具有重要商业价值的物种开展了性腺转录组分析。