Abstract
The diploids and tetraploids of cyprinid loach Misgurnus anguillicaudatus coexist in many natural habits. The tetraploids generally exhibit superior growth performance and delayed gonadal development compared with diploids. To investigate the regulation mechanism of growth superiority and ovarian development in tetraploids, we first conducted a long-term culture experiment and histological observation. The tetraploids exhibited a higher growth performance and delayed ovarian development. Meanwhile, at a genetic level, an average of 6891 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between diploids and tetraploids were identified from the brain, pituitary, liver, gonad and muscle using the RNA-seq method. Among these DEGs, as expected, some candidate genes, including IGF family genes, somatostatin, leptin, cyp19a1b, gthα, lhβ and fshβ, were detected, which play critical roles in the regulation of growth and gonad development of fish. In particular, the genes related to GH/IGF axis and growth factors, signal transduction, gonadal hormone and appetite were significantly increased in tetraploids. The clustering analyses of the key candidate genes showed that most key genes were up-regulated in the pituitary and gonad of tetraploids instead of other tissues. The dynamics of these key genes provide valuable genetic evidence for clarifying the growth superiority and delayed gonadal development of tetraploids. Moreover, this study also provides some clues for unveiling the genetic superiority of polyploidy species in other phenotypes.