The Jak-STAT target Chinmo prevents sex transformation of adult stem cells in the Drosophila testis niche.

ABSTRACT: Local signals maintain adult stem cells in many tissues. Whether the sexual identity of adult stem cells must also be maintained was not known. In the adult Drosophila testis niche, local Jak-STAT signaling promotes somatic cyst stem cell (CySC) renewal through several effectors, including the putative transcription factor Chronologically inappropriate morphogenesis (Chinmo). Here, we find that Chinmo also prevents feminization of CySCs. Chinmo promotes expression of the canonical male sex determination factor DoublesexM (Dsx(M)) within CySCs and their progeny, and ectopic expression of DsxM in the CySC lineage partially rescues the chinmo sex transformation phenotype, placing Chinmo upstream of Dsx(M). The Dsx homolog DMRT1 prevents the male-to-female conversion of differentiated somatic

SUBMITTER: Ma Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4254588 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature