Abstract
Sex-determination mechanisms vary greatly among taxa. It has been proposed that genetic sex-determination pathways evolve in reverse order from the final step in the pathway to the first step. Consistent with this hypothesis, doublesex (dsx), the most downstream gene in the Drosophila sex-determination cascade that determines most sexual phenotypes also determines sex in other dipterans and the silk moth, while the upstream genes vary among these species. However, it is unknown when dsx was recruited to the sex-determination pathway during insect evolution. Furthermore, sex-specific splicing of dsx, by which dsx determines sex, is different in pattern and mechanism between the moth and the fly, raising an interesting question of how these insects have kept the executor of sex determination while allowing flexibility in the means of execution. To address these questions, here we study the dsx gene of the honeybee Apis mellifera, a member of the most basal lineage of holometabolous insects. We report that honeybee dsx is sexspecifically spliced and that it produces both the fly-type and moth-type splicing forms, indicating that the use of different splicing forms of Dsx in controlling sexual differentiation was present in the common ancestor of holometabolous insects. Our data suggest that in ancestral holometabolous insects the female Dsx form is the default and the male form is generated by suppressing the splicing of the female form. Thus, it is likely that the dsx splicing activator system in flies, where the male form is the default, arose during early dipteran evolution.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1733-1741 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Genetics |
| Volume | 177 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 2007 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Genetics
- Genetics(clinical)
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Sex-specific splicing of the honeybee doublesex gene reveals 300 million years of evolution at the bottom of the insect sex-determination pathway. / Cho, Soochin; Huang, Zachary Y.; Zhang, Jianzhi.
In: Genetics, Vol. 177, No. 3, 11.2007, p. 1733-1741.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Sex-specific splicing of the honeybee doublesex gene reveals 300 million years of evolution at the bottom of the insect sex-determination pathway
AU - Cho, Soochin
AU - Huang, Zachary Y.
AU - Zhang, Jianzhi
PY - 2007/11
Y1 - 2007/11
N2 - Sex-determination mechanisms vary greatly among taxa. It has been proposed that genetic sex-determination pathways evolve in reverse order from the final step in the pathway to the first step. Consistent with this hypothesis, doublesex (dsx), the most downstream gene in the Drosophila sex-determination cascade that determines most sexual phenotypes also determines sex in other dipterans and the silk moth, while the upstream genes vary among these species. However, it is unknown when dsx was recruited to the sex-determination pathway during insect evolution. Furthermore, sex-specific splicing of dsx, by which dsx determines sex, is different in pattern and mechanism between the moth and the fly, raising an interesting question of how these insects have kept the executor of sex determination while allowing flexibility in the means of execution. To address these questions, here we study the dsx gene of the honeybee Apis mellifera, a member of the most basal lineage of holometabolous insects. We report that honeybee dsx is sexspecifically spliced and that it produces both the fly-type and moth-type splicing forms, indicating that the use of different splicing forms of Dsx in controlling sexual differentiation was present in the common ancestor of holometabolous insects. Our data suggest that in ancestral holometabolous insects the female Dsx form is the default and the male form is generated by suppressing the splicing of the female form. Thus, it is likely that the dsx splicing activator system in flies, where the male form is the default, arose during early dipteran evolution.
AB - Sex-determination mechanisms vary greatly among taxa. It has been proposed that genetic sex-determination pathways evolve in reverse order from the final step in the pathway to the first step. Consistent with this hypothesis, doublesex (dsx), the most downstream gene in the Drosophila sex-determination cascade that determines most sexual phenotypes also determines sex in other dipterans and the silk moth, while the upstream genes vary among these species. However, it is unknown when dsx was recruited to the sex-determination pathway during insect evolution. Furthermore, sex-specific splicing of dsx, by which dsx determines sex, is different in pattern and mechanism between the moth and the fly, raising an interesting question of how these insects have kept the executor of sex determination while allowing flexibility in the means of execution. To address these questions, here we study the dsx gene of the honeybee Apis mellifera, a member of the most basal lineage of holometabolous insects. We report that honeybee dsx is sexspecifically spliced and that it produces both the fly-type and moth-type splicing forms, indicating that the use of different splicing forms of Dsx in controlling sexual differentiation was present in the common ancestor of holometabolous insects. Our data suggest that in ancestral holometabolous insects the female Dsx form is the default and the male form is generated by suppressing the splicing of the female form. Thus, it is likely that the dsx splicing activator system in flies, where the male form is the default, arose during early dipteran evolution.
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=37249029805&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1534/genetics.107.078980
DO - 10.1534/genetics.107.078980
M3 - Article
C2 - 17947419
AN - SCOPUS:37249029805
VL - 177
SP - 1733
EP - 1741
JO - Genetics
JF - Genetics
SN - 0016-6731
IS - 3
ER -