Lepidopteran Sex Determination: A Cascade of Surprises

Nagaraju, Javaregowda; Gopinath, Gajula; Sharma, Vandana; Shukla, Jayendra Nath

doi:10.1159/000357483

Cited by 23 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 76 publications

(92 reference statements)

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“…In insects, dsx is a downstream transcription factor in the sex determination pathway; peak expression of sex‐specific isoforms during embryogenesis may coincide with the time of sex determination events during embryogenesis . Although male‐specific splicing of dsx represents the default mode in dipteran and other insects, female‐specific splicing of dsx is the default in lepidopteran insects . In B. mori , an increase in levels of the male‐specific dsx revealed that sex determination occurs between 21 and 24 h post oviposition (hpo), facilitating discovery of the primary determiner of sex, a female‐specific piRNA .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…53 Although male-specific splicing of dsx represents the default mode in dipteran and other insects, female-specific splicing of dsx is the default in lepidopteran insects. 54 In B. mori, an increase in levels of the male-specific dsx revealed that sex determination occurs between 21 and 24 h post oviposition (hpo), facilitating discovery of the primary determiner of sex, a female-specific piRNA. 55 To determinate the key stage for sex determination in A. ipsilon, we used RT-PCR to investigate the expression patterns of Aidsx during embryonic development.…”

Section: Key Stage Of Sex-determination In a Ipsilon Embryosmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Disruption of sex‐specific doublesex exons results in male‐ and female‐specific defects in the black cutworm, Agrotis ipsilon

Chen

Cao

Zhan

et al. 2019

Pest Management Science

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BACKGROUND Doublesex (dsx), the downstream gene in the insect sex‐determination pathway, is a key regulator of sexually dimorphic development and behavior across a variety of insects. Manipulating expression of dsx could be useful in the genetic control of insects. However, information on the sex‐specific function of dsx in non‐model insects is lacking. RESULTS In this work, we isolated a dsx homolog, which is alternatively spliced into six female‐specific and one male‐specific isoforms, from an important agricultural pest, the black cutworm, Agrotis ipsilon. Studies on the expression of sex‐specific Aidsx mRNA during embryonic development showed that the sixth hour post oviposition is the key stage for sex determination in A. ipsilon. Functional analysis of Aidsx was conducted using a CRISPR/Cas9 system targeting female‐ and male‐specific Aidsx exons. Disruptions of sex‐specific Aidsx exons resulted in sex‐specific, sexually dimorphic defects in external genitals, gonads and antennae, and expression of sex‐specific genes as well as production of offspring in both sexes. CONCLUSION Our results not only demonstrate that dsx is a key player determining A. ipsilon sexually dimorphic traits, but also provide a potential method for the genetic control of this pest. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Key Stage Of Sex-determination In a Ipsilon Embryosmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disruption of sex‐specific doublesex exons results in male‐ and female‐specific defects in the black cutworm, Agrotis ipsilon

Chen

Cao

Zhan

et al. 2019

Pest Management Science

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“…In the silkworm B. mori , the male is the homogametic sex and the female is the heterogametic sex. Bmdsx is the downstream gene of the sex determination cascade (Nagaraju et al ., ). The gene products of Bmdsx play essential roles in silkworm sexual development.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

MicroRNA‐2738 regulates gene expression in the sex determination pathway in Bombyx mori

Liu

Lin

et al. 2019

Insect Science

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MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of short, non-coding transcripts that bind to 3 -untranslated regions to trigger messenger RNA degradation or translational inhibition. Here we explored how miRNAs regulate sex determination in Bombyx mori, a lepidopteran model insect. Genes known to be involved in sex determination, BmPSI, Bmdsx, and BmMasc, are predicted targets of the species-specific miR-2738. Using a dual luciferase reporter assay in HEK293T cells, we confirmed that miR-2738 suppressed transcription of BmPSI, Bmdsx, and BmMasc. The levels of BmPSI and BmMasc were significantly down-regulated in B. mori miR-2738 overexpression. In contrast, the genetic disruption of miR-2738 using the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 transgenic system increased the levels of BmPSI and BmMasc transcripts, whereas splicing of Bmdsx was unaltered by miR-2738 depletion or overexpression. Taken together, this study implicates miR-2738 as a minor regulator of sex determination genes in the silkworm.

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“…S1. Thirty candidate genes within the sex determination pathway were selected from the genes categorized as ‘sex determination (BSID: 492283)’ in the NCBI BioSystems database (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/biosystems/) (Geer et al ., ) as well as genes previously reported in D. melanogaster and B. mori (Schütt and Nöthiger, ; Nagaraju et al ., ). The available candidate proteins from D. melanogaster , A. mellifera and B. mori were used as references to screen the B. tabaci Q genome (Xie et al ., ) using the tblastn algorithm with an e ‐value threshold of 10 −5 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Genome‐wide dissection of sex determination genes in the highly invasive whitefly species Bemisia tabaci Q/MED

Liu

Xie

Guo

et al. 2019

Insect Molecular Biology

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Sex determination genes are important regulators of reproduction as well as of the development of both behavioural and morphological sex characteristics. The sweetpotato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), is an emerging insect pest worldwide. The recent release of the genome sequence of the highly invasive B. tabaciQ/MED allows us to investigate the mechanisms and genes involved in sex determination. The combined genome and transcriptome‐wide analyses identified 26 genes putatively associated with sex determination in B. tabaciQ/MED. The temporal profiles of these genes exhibited a consistent expression pattern at all B. tabaci developmental stages: the highest transcript levels were detected in eggs (21 genes, 80.8%) and the lowest in adults (24 genes, 92.3%). The expression pattern was further validated by quantitative real‐time reverse transcription PCR analysis. Alternative splicing analysis found that (1) da and mle have sex‐specific isoforms in B. tabaci adults, whereas Imp does not, and (2) exon skipping is a common splicing mechanism involved in B. tabaci sex determination. This research provides a comprehensive list of genes involved in B. tabaci sex determination and provides an opportunity to further understand the mechanisms underlying sex determination in a globally invasive insect pest that reproduces both sexually and asexually.

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Lepidopteran Sex Determination: A Cascade of Surprises

Cited by 23 publications

References 76 publications

Disruption of sex‐specific doublesex exons results in male‐ and female‐specific defects in the black cutworm, Agrotis ipsilon

Disruption of sex‐specific doublesex exons results in male‐ and female‐specific defects in the black cutworm, Agrotis ipsilon

MicroRNA‐2738 regulates gene expression in the sex determination pathway in Bombyx mori

Genome‐wide dissection of sex determination genes in the highly invasive whitefly species Bemisia tabaci Q/MED

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