The reshuffling of genomic variation from multiple origins is an important contributor to phenotypic diversification, yet insights into the evolutionary trajectories of this combinatorial process and ...

Sexual maturation is a key developmental process important for reproductive success. Understanding the molecular mechanisms behind variation in sexual maturation can provide insights into reproductive biology and how life history variation is encoded in the genome. Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) has become an excellent sexual maturation research model due to its diversity of life history strategies and its ecological and economic importance. A major challenge has been the lack of a comprehensive transcriptional investigation of reproductive tissues that captures the dynamic transcriptional changes across individuals, tissues, and developmental stages. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) also play crucial roles in maturation, yet their functions in salmon maturation remain underexplored. In this study, we sequenced 98 transcriptomes and found substantial transcriptomic complexity in the gonad and pituitary tissues of Atlantic salmon. We identified transcripts corresponding to 2,364 putative newly characterized protein-coding genes and 4,421 putative long intergenic non-coding RNAs (lincRNAs), many with tissue-specific expression. Gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) revealed tissue-specific gene network modules, linked to GO terms including Wnt signaling in immature testis, lipid metabolism, and cilia assembly in mature testis, ribosome biogenesis and DNA repair in the ovary, and hormone activity in pituitary. We identified new copies of known genes, such as gh1, pou3f2, and ier5 associated with the regulation of gonadal and pituitary functions. Some lncRNAs and their nearest genes showed correlated expression within modules, suggesting potential regulatory roles. Candidate lincRNAs indicated cis-acting regulatory potential on genes like tnfrsf11b and fgl1, which are implicated in immune privilege during gonadal development and sperm quality control. Our study provides a comprehensive transcriptomic analysis of Atlantic salmon gonad and pituitary tissues, significantly improving the functional annotation of the Atlantic salmon genome. These findings reveal key regulatory pathways and novel molecular players involved in sexual maturation, particularly in the testis. Importantly, our study highlights the regulatory potential of lncRNAs in reproductive biology and maturation age variation, advancing our understanding of the molecular mechanisms governing sexual maturation. They further unlock future gene expression analyses and regulatory network reconstruction for dissecting the roles of lncRNAs in Atlantic salmon life history variation.

Cities affect biological evolution, but traditionally researchers focus on the biophysical influence of urban environments. Instead, this Review explores how the social processes of religion, politics...

Abstract. The generation of haploid gametes is a hallmark of sexual reproduction achieved through a complex, albeit tightly regulated, reductional cell div

We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher to join our team working on avian reproductive microbiomes at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) in the group of Dr. Melissah Rowe. The postd...

Meiotic crossovers enhance genetic diversity in sexually reproducing organisms. Here, the authors propose that the higher-order spatial organization of the meiotic chromosomes shapes sexual dimorphism...

Abstract. Meiotic recombination is a central mechanism underlying sexual reproduction among eukaryotes. In many species, the recombination rate is strongly

Abstract. Social partners frequently resemble each other. These correlations between the phenotypes of interacting individuals (e.g. social partners, group

Job title: Associate Professor in evolutionary genomics of vertebrates (279638), Employer: NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Deadline: Sunday, May 25, 2025

- work environment: Host-Pathogen-Environment Interactions Laboratory (UMR5244 IHPE), Montpellier - main mission: