摘要：SummaryWhole-genome sequencing data were produced from a single flathead grey mullet female and assembled into a draft genome sequence, whereas publicly available sequence data were used to obtain a male draft sequence. Two pools, each consisting of 60 unrelated individuals, respectively, of male and female fish were analyzed using Pool-Sequencing. Mapping and analysis of Pool-Seq data against the draft genome(s) revealed >30 loci potentially associated with sex, the most promising locus of which, encoding thefollicle-stimulating hormone receptor(fshr) and harboring two missense variants, was genotyped on 245 fish from four Mediterranean populations. Genotype data showed thatfshrrepresents a previously unknown sex-determining locus, although the incomplete association pattern betweenfshrgenotype and sex-phenotype, the variability of such pattern across different populations, and the presence of other candidate loci reveal that a greater complexity underlies sex determination in the flathead grey mullet.Graphical abstractDisplay OmittedHighlights•Three SNPs with sex-specific allele frequencies found in the grey mulletfshrgene•Two missense variants at thefshrlocus are significantly associated with male sex•fshrmale genotypes show divergent distribution across geographical populations•Incomplete penetrance offshrvariants suggests that additional factors existGenetics; Evolutionary Biology; Genomics
