Identification and functional analysis of the doublesex gene in the sexual development of a hemimetabolous insect, the brown planthopper

Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Ji-Chong ZhuoChuan-Xi Zhang

Abstract

In the sex determination cascade, the genes dsx (doublesex) in insects, mab-3 (male abnormal 3) in nematodes, and Dmrt1 (dsx/mab-3 related transcription factor-1) in vertebrates act as the base molecular switches and play important roles. Moreover, these genes share the same conserved feature domain-DNA-binding oligomerization domain (OD1), and female-specific dsx also has a conserved oligomerization domain 2 (OD2). Although sex determination and the functions of dsx in several holometabolous insects have been well documented, sex determination and the function of dsx in hemimetabolous insects remain a mystery. In this study, four dsx homologs were unexpectedly found in the Nilaparvata lugens (brown planthopper, BPH, order Hemiptera), which also showed a different evolutionary status. We found that only one of the four homologs, Nldsx, which has three alternative splicing variants (female-specific NldsxF, male-specific NldsxM, non-sex-specific NldsxC), was required in the sexual development of N. lugens. Compared with that of holometabolous species, the dsx of N. lugens contains a less conserved OD1, while the OD2 domain of BPH was not identifiable because the common region is poorly conserved, and the female-specific region is...Continue Reading

Citations

Oct 18, 2019·Frontiers in Physiology·Yan ShenChuan-Xi Zhang
Jan 19, 2021·Molecular Ecology Resources·Yu-Xuan YeChuan-Xi Zhang
Apr 14, 2021·Current Opinion in Genetics & Development·Ben R Hopkins, Artyom Kopp
Jun 1, 2021·Current Opinion in Genetics & Development·Elizabeth L Jockusch, Cera R Fisher
Nov 27, 2021·Science Advances·Ji-Chong ZhuoChuan-Xi Zhang

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