Luke May

Title of Work: 

Differences in the Molecular Mechanisms of Sexual Plasticity in the Brain and Gonads of Bambooleaf Wrasse

Abstract:

Pseudolabrus sieboldi, the Bambooleaf Wrasse native to the southern island of Kyushu in Japan, is another fish that is included in the 500-plus species that have the ability to change sex. Despite the knowledge of the species’ sexual plasticity, the exact details of the processes behind this sex change are still unknown. 

The aromatase (cyp19) genes encode the major enzymes involved in the hormone-producing pathway that convert androgens into estrogens within the gonads, which helps to explain the process of male-to-female sex change. However, there was little information that explained the reasons behind female-to-male sex change. 

After it was discovered that inhibiting gene-regulating DNA methylation patterns can prevent sex change, it was hypothesized that these patterns, especially within the brain, may play a vital role in the female-to-male sex change process. The research conducted during this internship thus explored the differences in DNA methylation patterns in the aromatase (cyp19) gene between the brain and gonads of Bambooleaf Wrasse. 

Title of Work (IGP Language):  

ホシササノハベラの性転換魚における脳と性腺の性的可塑性の分子機構の違い

Abstract (IGP Language):

日本の九州が原産地であるホシササノハベラとも呼ばれるPseudolabrus sieboldiも、性転換能力を持つ五百種類以上の魚の中に含んでいます。この魚の性的可塑性がわかっているのに、性転換の背後にあるプロセスの正確な詳細はまだ不明です。

アロマターゼ (cyp19) 遺伝子は、性腺の中でアンドロゲンをエストロゲンに変換する重要な酵素をコードして、それでこれは男性から女性への性転換プロセスの説明に役立ちます。しかし、女性から男性への性転換の背後にある理由を説明する情報はほとんどありませんでした。

遺伝子を調節するDNAメチル化のパターンを阻害すると性転換を防ぐことができることが発見された後、特に脳の中でこれらのパターンが女性から男性への性転換プロセスに重要な役割を演じているかもしれません。このインターンシップ中に行われた研究は、ホシササノハベラの脳と性腺におけるアロマターゼ (cyp19) 遺伝子のDNAメチル化のパターンの違いを訪ねました。

Elevator Pitch Video

Elevator Pitch Transcript: 

Hello, did you know that in Finding Nemo, Nemo was actually supposed to have a second mother who might that be? Who might that be you ask? Yes, well, I'll let you know in the next slide. But for now, I'll tell you about the theme of my video today, which is the sexual plasticity in the brain and gonad of the Bambooleaf Wrasse. But to answer your firing question, who is Nemo's second mother supposed to be? Well to answer, Marlin. That's right in real-life clownfish actually, when the mother clownfish dies, the father clownfish actually steps up and goes through a sex change process in order to keep the bloodline going and lay more eggs. So you know, after the Barracuda absolutely demolished Marlin and Nemo’s bloodline in the movie, Marlon should have stepped up, but he didn't, and that probably would have changed the plotline immensely. But yeah. A little self-introduction. My name is Luke May. I'm studying biology and Japanese through Northern Arizona University's Interdisciplinary Global Programs. Great program. By the way, you all should be very proud and whoever is interested, definitely take a look experience of a lifetime. But anyway. I studied at Kyushu University in Fukuoka. Japan. Very countryside, very rugged. Not quite the image of Japan, you might think, but was a great experience. 

And so for my internship experience, I actually got to build on the research of the lab that I joined on the species of Bambooleaf Wrasse which have the capabilities to change sex bi-directionally. So coming into this lab, they had a lot of research on the female or the male-to-female sex change process, but not quite the female-to-male which is kind of what I based my project around. Their research had to do with the aromatase gene which basically encodes for the enzymes that convert androgens like testosterone into estrogens, which explains the the male to female. Testosterone converted to estrogen. That explains a lot of that sex change process, but they really didn't know why females are, yeah, females changed into males. 

So basically using the previous research on the aromatase gene, they wanted me to look inside the brain. The aromatase gene in the brain and see if that had a vital role in the female-to-male sex exchange because they had found that something called DNA methylation in the aromatase gene when it actually inhibited the male-to-female sex change and they wanted to see if there was DNA methylation differences between the aromatase gene in the brain and then the gonads which is what my project was. So yeah. I did various protocols in order to get those results and measure those differences include some fun field work of fishing and actually dissecting a fish which was kind of scary but picked it up pretty fast. I would say so proud of that, but yeah. I just want to talk about some key takeaways of my experience. Mental resilience. I really went through a lot and it was, my project was very self-guided actually, which it leads into my other point of being communicative. I wasn't quite communicative with my supervisor or my labmates about what I needed or what I wanted to do because I was scared of being a bother. But I would say, don't be scared of being a bother. Language barrier is really hard to overcome, no matter how long you study a language, because, you know, the unknown. You don't, you've never experienced some of these things ever in your life, so it's just it's really a mental battle in a journey of self-development, that you learn by yourself kind of what you need, where you want to go, what you want to do, and how to get there. So yeah, the last thing I wanted to show was my view. Basically, every day while I was walking to the convenience store in Japan, which was like my third home other than the cafeteria, being my second home. But yeah, this was my view and thank you so much for listening to my video, and I hope you guys come and listen to my presentation at the Summit. Thank you.

Digital Poster