Hemimetabolous insects elucidate the origin of sexual development via alternative splicing.

ABSTRACT: Insects are the only known animals in which sexual differentiation is controlled by sex-specific splicing. The doublesex transcription factor produces distinct male and female isoforms, which are both essential for sex-specific development. dsx splicing depends on transformer, which is also alternatively spliced such that functional Tra is only present in females. This pathway has evolved from an ancestral mechanism where dsx was independent of tra and expressed and required only in males. To reconstruct this transition, we examined three basal, hemimetabolous insect orders: Hemiptera, Phthiraptera, and Blattodea. We show that tra and dsx have distinct functions in these insects, reflecting different stages in the changeover from a transcrip

SUBMITTER: Wexler J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6721801 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature