The Ceratitis capitata homologue of the Drosophila sex-determining gene Sex-lethal is structurally conserved, but not sex-specifically regulated

Saccone, Giuseppe; Peluso, Ilaria; Artiaco, Dora; Giordano, Elena; Bopp, Daniel; Polito, Lino C.

doi:10.1242/dev.125.8.1495

Cited by 121 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…In addition to D. melanogaster, sxl homologs have been reported in other insects, such as Musca domestica (Diptera: Muscidae) (Meise et al 1998), Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae) (Saccone et al 1998), Drosophila virilis (Diptera: Drosopilidae) (Jinks et al 2003), Bombyx mori (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae) (Ruiz et al 2003), Sciara ocellaris (Diptera: Sciaridae) (Niimi et al 2006) and Spodoptera litura (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) (Wen et al 2022). There are also reports of sxl homologous genes in crustaceans such as Penaeus vannamei (Penaeidae: Penaeus) (López-Cuadros et al 2018) and Eriocheir sinensis (Varunidae: Eriocheir) (Shen et al 2014).…”

Section: Et Al: Analyses Of Sex-lethal Gene In Phytoseiulus Persimilismentioning

confidence: 99%

Expression and function analyses of sex-lethal gene in Phytoseiulus persimilis

Li,

Wang,

Wang

et al. 2023

saa

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Phytoseiulus persimilis is a specialist predator of spider mites, with promising control effects. Its population generally has a stable sex ratio. Under appropriate conditions, the proportion of female offspring can reach 80%. But the mechanisms of sex determination in P. persimilis is still unclear. Sex-lethal (sxl) is an important gene in studying sex regulation mechanisms in insects. In the model organism Drosophila melanogaster, it has been proved to be a switch controlling sex determination. Herein, we screened one sex-lethal gene ortholog in the genome of P. persimilis (Ppsxl). We separated male and female offspring successfully based on the order of the egg laid, and found Ppsxl is expressed in both sexes at different stages. The expression peak was found in females 10 h after mating, and it was also highly expressed in eggs that developed into males. RNA interference was used to study the function of Ppsxl. When Ppsxl was interfered, all female individuals remained fertile. However, their cumulative fecundity decreased by 18.0%, daily fecundity decreased by 13.4%, and the proportion of female offspring decreased by 22.7%. This study showed that Ppsxl gene has a certain influence on the reproduction of P. persimilis, but its influence on sex determination may not be as critical as that in D. melanogaster. The regulation of sxl on P. persimilis was different from that in D. melanogaster.

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Section: Et Al: Analyses Of Sex-lethal Gene In Phytoseiulus Persimilismentioning

confidence: 99%

Expression and function analyses of sex-lethal gene in Phytoseiulus persimilis

Li,

Wang,

Wang

et al. 2023

saa

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“…Nevertheless, in Ceratitis capitata, in addition to the evolutionary conservation of the tra/tra2 > dsx/fru genetic developmental module, there are relevant differences: the Y chromosome dictates male sex determination on a default female sex determination [45,46]; the Ceratitis Sxl orthologue is not involved in sex determination [47]. Moreover, Tra/Tra2 putative binding elements are unexpectedly present within the Cctra male-specific exons region, a finding that supported the conclusion that the Ceratitis tra gene has a novel autoregulatory function [36].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Female Sex Determination Factors in Ceratitis capitata: Molecular and Structural Basis of TRA and TRA2 Recognition

Perrotta,

Lucibelli,

Mazzucchiello

et al. 2023

Insects

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In the model system for genetics, Drosophila melanogaster, sexual differentiation and male courtship behavior are controlled by sex-specific splicing of doublesex (dsx) and fruitless (fru). In vitro and in vivo studies showed that female-specific Transformer (TRA) and the non-sex-specific Transformer 2 (TRA2) splicing factors interact, forming a complex promoting dsx and fru female-specific splicing. TRA/TRA2 complex binds to 13 nt long sequence repeats in their pre-mRNAs. In the Mediterranean fruitfly Ceratitis capitata (Medfly), a major agricultural pest, which shares with Drosophila a ~120 million years old ancestor, Cctra and Cctra2 genes seem to promote female-specific splicing of Ccdsx and Ccfru, which contain conserved TRA/TRA2 binding repeats. Unlike Drosophila tra, Cctra autoregulates its female-specific splicing through these putative regulatory repeats. Here, a yeast two-hybrid assay shows that CcTRA interacts with CcTRA2, despite its high amino acid divergence compared to Drosophila TRA. Interestingly, CcTRA2 interacts with itself, as also observed for Drosophila TRA2. We also generated a three-dimensional model of the complex formed by CcTRA and CcTRA2 using predictive approaches based on Artificial Intelligence. This structure also identified an evolutionary and highly conserved putative TRA2 recognition motif in the TRA sequence. The Y2H approach, combined with powerful predictive tools of three-dimensional protein structures, could use helpful also in this and other insect species to understand the potential links between different upstream proteins acting as primary sex-determining signals and the conserved TRA and TRA2 transducers.

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“…In another dipteran species, C. capitata, TRA and TRA2 orthologs, CcTRA and CcTRA2, regulate the splicing of the Ccdsx pre-mRNA. However, Ccsxl is not involved in sex determination, and Cctra acts as cellular memory maintaining the female pathway by autoregulation with the help of Cctra2 (17)(18)(19)(20). TRA orthologs appear to be absent in mosquitoes, which also belong to the order Diptera (21).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A feminizing switch in a hemimetabolous insect

Zhuo

Zhang

et al. 2021

Sci. Adv.

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The mechanism of sex determination remains poorly understood in hemimetabolous insects. Here, in the brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens, a hemipteran rice pest, we identified a feminizing switch or a female determiner (Nlfmd) that encodes a serine/arginine-rich protein. Knockdown of Nlfmd in female nymphs resulted in masculinization of both the somatic morphology and doublesex splicing. The female-specific isoform of Nlfmd, Nlfmd-F, is maternally deposited and zygotically transcribed. Depletion of Nlfmd by maternal RNAi or CRISPR-Cas9 resulted in female-specific embryonic lethality. Knockdown of an hnRNP40 family gene named female determiner 2 (Nlfmd2) also conferred masculinization. In vitro experiments showed that an Nlfmd2 isoform, NlFMD2 340 , bound the RAAGAA repeat motif in the Nldsx pre-mRNA and formed a protein complex with NlFMD-F to modulate Nldsx splicing, suggesting that NlFMD2 may function as an RNA binding partner of the feminizing switch NlFMD. Our results provide novel insights into the diverse mechanisms of insect sex determination.

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The Ceratitis capitata homologue of the Drosophila sex-determining gene Sex-lethal is structurally conserved, but not sex-specifically regulated

Cited by 121 publications

References 24 publications

Expression and function analyses of sex-lethal gene in Phytoseiulus persimilis

Expression and function analyses of sex-lethal gene in Phytoseiulus persimilis

Female Sex Determination Factors in Ceratitis capitata: Molecular and Structural Basis of TRA and TRA2 Recognition

A feminizing switch in a hemimetabolous insect

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