Spatiotemporal single-cell RNA sequencing reveals the role of steroid hormone pathway during chicken primordial follicle formation

The size of the initial primordial follicle pool in the ovary depends on primordial follicle formation, which determines the female reproductive lifespan. However, the molecular regulation of primordial follicle formation in chickens remains unclear. In this study, the left ovaries of chickens were collected at 2 d posthatch (dph), 5.5 dph, and 10.5 dph to examine the formation of primordial follicles. Single-cell mRNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) and spatial transcriptomic analysis were performed to explore the ovarian microenvironment and identify regulatory pathways involved in the formation of primordial follicles in chickens. Histomorphological analysis of chicken ovary tissues revealed the presence of germ cell cysts at 1 dph, which began to disintegrate at 2 dph. Primordial follicles appeared at 5.5 dph and continued to develop into larger-diameter follicles. scRNA-seq and spatial transcriptomic analysis revealed 24 cellular clusters involved in chicken primordial follicle formation. The metabolic pathway of steroid hormone synthesis was found in pregranulosa and pretheca cells. Histological analysis showed that chicken ovaries did not form primordial follicles after the inhibition of the steroid hormone synthesis pathway by simvastatin or tamoxifen. In addition, mRNA transcriptomic and bioinformatics analyses revealed that GREB1 was a downstream gene of the steroid hormone synthesis pathway during the formation of chicken primordial follicles. This study provides a valuable foundation for investigating primordial follicle formation in avian species and optimizing their reproductive performance.