Gonadal morphogenesis and gene expression in reptiles with temperature-dependent sex determination

Abstract

In reptiles with temperature-dependent sexual determination, the thermosensitive period (TSP) is the interval in which the sex is defined during gonadal morphogenesis. One-shift experiments in a group of eggs define the onset and the end of the TSP as all and none responses, respectively. Timing for sex-undetermined (UG) and -determined gonads (DG) differs at male- (MPT) or female-producing temperatures (FPT). During the TSP a decreasing number of embryos respond to temperature shifts indicating that in this period embryos with both UG and DG exist. Although most UG correspond to undifferentiated gonads, some embryos extend UG after the onset of histological differentiation. Thus, temperature affects gonadal cells during the process of morphogenesis, but timing of commitment depends on individual embryos. A correlation between gonadal morphogenesis, TSP, and gene expression suggests that determination of the molecular pathways modulated by temperature in epithelial cells (surface epithelium and medullary cords) holds the key for a unifying hypothesis on temperature-dependent sex determination.