Genetic and developmental analysis of the sex-determining gene ‘double sex’ (<i>dsx</i>) of<i>Drosophila melanogaster</i>

Nöthiger, Rolf; Leuthold, Margrit; Andersen, Nils Møller; Gerschwiler, Pia; Grüter, A.; Keller, W; Leist, C.; Roost, Maja; Schmid, Helen

doi:10.1017/s001667230002351x

Cited by 40 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 25 publications

(19 reference statements)

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“…Likewise, the unpigmented outgrowths found in the gonads of RNAi-treated males may have derived from cells with ambiguous or unspecified assignment. Intersexual and undifferentiated tissues are typical hallmarks of the phenotypes described in dsx mutant Drosophila flies (Nothiger et al 1987). The mutation also affects the internal reproductive system in Drosophila females (Hildreth 1964).…”

Section: Role Of Md-dsx In Gonadal Differentiationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex determination in Drosophila melanogaster and Musca domestica converges at the level of the terminal regulator doublesex

Hediger

Burghardt

Siegenthaler

et al. 2004

Development Genes and Evolution

121

154

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Sex-determining cascades are supposed to have evolved in a retrograde manner from bottom to top. Wilkins' 1995 hypothesis finds support from our comparative studies in Drosophila melanogaster and Musca domestica, two dipteran species that separated some 120 million years ago. The sex-determining cascades in these flies differ at the level of the primary sex-determining signal and their targets, Sxl in Drosophila and F in Musca. Here we present evidence that they converge at the level of the terminal regulator, doublesex ( dsx), which conveys the selected sexual fate to the differentiation genes. The dsx homologue in Musca, Md-dsx, encodes male-specific (MdDSX(M)) and female-specific (MdDSX(F)) protein variants which correspond in structure to those in Drosophila. Sex-specific regulation of Md-dsx is controlled by the switch gene F via a splicing mechanism that is similar but in some relevant aspects different from that in Drosophila. MdDSX(F) expression can activate the vitellogenin genes in Drosophila and Musca males, and MdDSX(M) expression in Drosophila females can cause male-like pigmentation of posterior tergites, suggesting that these Musca dsx variants are conserved not only in structure but also in function. Furthermore, downregulation of Md-dsx activity in Musca by injecting dsRNA into embryos leads to intersexual differentiation of the gonads. These results strongly support a role of Md-dsx as the final regulatory gene in the sex-determining hierarchy of the housefly.

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Section: Role Of Md-dsx In Gonadal Differentiationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex determination in Drosophila melanogaster and Musca domestica converges at the level of the terminal regulator doublesex

Hediger

Burghardt

Siegenthaler

et al. 2004

Development Genes and Evolution

121

154

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, dsx mutations are usually heavily pleiotropic, causing many intersexual phenotypes, and we did not observe any obvious intersex phenotypes when examining male and female leg bristles and other dimorphic traits (Nothiger et al 1987).…”

Section: Tablementioning

confidence: 51%

New Candidate Genes for Sex-Comb Divergence BetweenDrosophila mauritianaandDrosophila simulans

et al. 2007

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A large-effect QTL for divergence in sex-comb tooth number between Drosophila simulans and D. mauritiana was previously mapped to 73A-84AB. Here we identify genes that are likely contributors to this divergence. We first improved the mapping resolution in the 73A-84AB region using 12 introgression lines and 62 recombinant nearly isogenic lines. To further narrow the list of candidate genes, we assayed leg-specific expression and identified genes with transcript-level evolution consistent with a potential role in sex-comb divergence. Sex combs are formed on the prothoracic (front) legs, but not on the mesothoracic (middle) legs of Drosophila males. We extracted RNA from the prothoracic and mesothoracic pupal legs of two species to determine which of the genes expressed differently between leg types were also divergent for gene expression. Two good functional candidate genes, Scr and dsx, are located in one of our fine-scale QTL regions. In addition, three previously uncharacterized genes (CG15186, CG2016, and CG2791) emerged as new candidates. These genes are located in regions strongly associated with sexcomb tooth number differences and are expressed differently between leg tissues and between species. Further supporting the potential involvement of these genes in sex-comb divergence, we found a significant difference in sex-comb tooth number between co-isogenic D. melanogaster lines with and without P-element insertions at CG2791.

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“…The three independently transformed lines showed the same strong staining in both female and male fat bodies. This is equivalent to expression of Drosophila yp genes in a doublesex mutant background where the yp genes are derepressed in both males and females (Nöthiger et al 1987) and again suggests that the tissue-specific trans-acting factors are conserved. The trans-acting factors conferring yp sex-specific expression in Drosophila (i.e.…”

Section: Expression Of Yp Genes In the Fat Bodymentioning

confidence: 81%

Conservation and divergence in the control of yolk protein genes in dipteran insects

Tortiglione

Bownes

1997

Development Genes and Evolution

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We have investigated the conservation of regulatory elements for sex- and tissue-specific gene expression in three dipteran species, Drosophila melanogaster, Musca domestica and Calliphora erythrocephala, using the yolk protein (yp) genes. Yolk proteins of the fruitfly, medfly, housefly and blowfly are very well conserved both in their sequence and their expression in ovarian follicle cells and in fat bodies of adult females. Furthermore, yp regulation by both hormonal and nutritional factors shows similar features in all four species. To study conservation of yp regulation in dipteran insects, we tested 5' flanking regions from one Musca yp gene and one Calliphora yp gene for enhancer functions in D. melanogaster. Two fragments of 823 and 1046 bp isolated from Musca and Calliphora yp genes, respectively, are able to direct correct expression of a reporter gene in the ovarian follicle cells of transformed Drosophila at specific stages during oogenesis. Surprisingly, these enhancers do not confer sex-specific reporter gene expression in the fat body, as expression was found in both sexes of the transformed flies. None-the-less by in vitro DNA/protein interaction assays, a 284-bp DNA region from the Musca yp enhancer was able to bind the Drosophila DOUBLESEX (DSX) protein, which in D.melanogaster confers sex-specific expression of yp. We speculate that the sex-determining pathway is not directly involved in yp regulation in Musca or Calliphora adult females, but depends instead on hormonal controls to achieve sex-specific expression of yp genes in the adult.

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Genetic and developmental analysis of the sex-determining gene ‘double sex’ (dsx) ofDrosophila melanogaster

Cited by 40 publications

References 25 publications

Sex determination in Drosophila melanogaster and Musca domestica converges at the level of the terminal regulator doublesex

Sex determination in Drosophila melanogaster and Musca domestica converges at the level of the terminal regulator doublesex

New Candidate Genes for Sex-Comb Divergence BetweenDrosophila mauritianaandDrosophila simulans

Conservation and divergence in the control of yolk protein genes in dipteran insects

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