: A Microarrays-Based Analysis Identifies Sex and Stage Specific Genes

(Mollusca, Lophotrochozoa) is an alternative and irregular protandrous hermaphrodite: most individuals mature first as males and then change sex several times. Little is known about genetic and phenotypic basis of sex differentiation in oysters, and little more about the molecular pathways regulating reproduction. We have recently developed and validated a microarray containing 31,918 oligomers (Dheilly et al., 2011) representing the oyster transcriptome. The application of this microarray to the study of mollusk gametogenesis should provide a better understanding of the key factors involved in sex differentiation and the regulation of oyster reproduction. Further functional analyses are now required in order to investigate their role in sex differentiation in oysters., an alternative hermaphrodite mollusk. We also provided new highly valuable information on genes specifically expressed by mature spermatozoids and mature oocytes