简介：EvolutionaryevidencesuggeststhatSox3,amemberofthehigh-mobility-group(HMG)familyoftranscriptionfactors,isanancestralprecursorofSryandisinvolvedinsexdeterminationsimilartoSry.However,thereislimitedinformationregardingtheSOX3geneoftheblackrockfish(Sebastesschlegeli).Inthisstudy,wefirstisolatedSOX3genefromthegonadsofS.schlegelibyhomologycloning.Thefull-lengthofS.schlegeliSOX3(SsSOX3)cDNAwas1386bp,comprisinga906-bpopenreadingframe,whichencodesapeptideshowing93.6%and93.9%homologywiththeSox3proteinsofEpinepheluscoioidesandOryziaslatipe,respectively.ComparisonofthecDNAsequenceoftheSsSOX3genewiththecorrespondinggenomicDNAfragmentrevealedthattheSsSOX3geneconsistsofasingleexon.PhylogeneticanalysisdemonstratedtheevolutionaryrelationshipofSsSOX3withotherknownSOXB1genesinfishandtetrapods.ThepromoterregioncontainsbindingsitesofseveraltranscriptionalfactorsthatmightparticipateintheregulationofSsSOX3expression.Quantitativereal-timePCRanalysisindicatedthatSsSOX3wasexpressedinalltheinvestigatedlarvaldevelopmentalstagesfrom1to35daysafterbirthandthelevelofexpressiongraduallydecreasedasthedevelopmentproceeded.SsSOX3exhibitedsexuallydimorphicexpressioninadultgonads,withhighexpressionintheovarybutlowexpressioninthetestis.InsituhybridizationrevealedthatSsSOX3wasstronglyexpressedinoocytesandfollicularcellsofovariesbutslightlyexpressedingermcellsoftesticulartissues.Therefore,thisstudysuggeststhatSsSOX3playsanimportantroleinoogenesisandovarydifferentiationinS.schlegeli.