Fig. 4: Feminization of the dKO XY supporting cells at the single cell level.

A Single cell mRNA sequencing analysis and clustering of the supporting cells based on their genotypes: control XY (blue), dKO XY (green), and control XX (pink) gonads at E15.5. Each dot represents the transcriptome of a single cell. B Cell clustering based on their unique transcriptomes: one population in the XY control, two subpopulations in the dKO XY, and three subpopulations in the control XX supporting cell populations. C Trajectory of transcriptomic changes (pseudotime analysis) among supporting cells. Control XY supporting cell in the far left was arbitrarily designated as the starting point (black dot) of the differentiation. Arrows and the gradient of colors (yellow to dark blue) indicate the direction and progression of transcriptomic changes. D Transcriptome trajectory of six representative genes critical for sex determination of the XY gonads (Dhh and Dmrt1) and XX gonads (Runx1, Wnt4, Rspo1, and Foxl2). The X axis represents the arbitrary trajectory of transcriptome changes from a single control XY supporting cells toward control XX supporting cells (dark blue). Y axis indicates the gene expression level in each cell. The black lines represent the average expression of the genes over the progression. Source data are provided as a Source Data file. N = 2 biologically independent samples per genotype.