pitpβ_w Encoding Phosphatidylinositol Transfer Protein Is Involved in Female Differentiation of Chinese Tongue Sole, Cynoglossus semilaevis

Phosphatidylinositol transfer protein (pitp) plays an important role in phospholipid transfer in animals. A pitp variant (pitpβ_w) in Chinese tongue sole was identified by transcriptomic analysis for its female-biased expression. The coding sequence of pitpβ_w was 816 bp, encoding a 371-amino-acid protein. pitpβ_w showed female-biased expression and was relatively high in brain, muscle, and ovary tissues. In different developmental stages of the ovary, pitpβ_w could be detected from 40 days until 3 years post hatching, and the highest expression was observed at 90 days. In situ hybridization revealed that pitpβ_w was predominantly localized in early-stage oocytes (I–III stages). After siRNA-mediated knockdown of pitpβ_w in an ovarian cell line, the expression of sox9a was reduced, while that of figla_tv1 and sox9b was significantly increased. Our findings suggest that pitpβ_w might be involved in female differentiation and early oogenesis.