Multi-tissue transcriptome analysis identifies key sexual development-related genes of the ornate spiny lobster (Panulirus ornatus)

<div> Sexual development involves the successive and overlapping processes of sex determination, sexual differentiation, and ultimately sexual maturation, enabling animals to reproduce. This provides a mechanism for enriched genetic variation which enables populations to withstand ever-changing environments, selecting for adapted individuals and driving speciation. The molecular mechanisms of sexual development display a bewildering diversity, even in closely related taxa. Many sex determination mechanisms across animals include the key family of “doublesex- and male abnormal3-related transcription factors” (Dmrts). In a few exceptional species, a single Dmrt residing on a sex chromosome acts as the master sex regulator. In this study, we provide compelling evidence for this model of sex determination in the ornate spiny lobster <i>Panulius ornatus</i>, concurrent with recent reports in the eastern spiny lobster <i>Sagmariasus verreauxi</i>. Using a multi-tissue transcriptomic database established for <i>P. ornatus</i>, we screened for the key factors associated with sexual development (by homology search and using previous knowledge of these factors from related species), providing an in-depth understanding of sexual development in decapods. Further research has the potential to close significant gaps in our understanding of reproductive development in this ecologically and commercially significant order. </div>