title: Isolation and characterization of the Bactrocera oleae genes orthologous to the sex determining Sex-lethal and doublesex genes of Drosophila melanogaster.
abstract: Here we report the isolation and characterization of the olive fruit fly Bactrocera oleae genes orthologous to the Drosophila melanogaster sex-determining genes Sex-lethal (Sxl) and doublesex (dsx). Fragments of the Sxl and dsx orthologous were isolated with RT-PCR. Genomic and cDNA clones were then obtained by screening a genomic library and separate male and female cDNA adult libraries using the RT-PCR products as probes in both cases. B. oleae Sxl gene (BoSxl) expresses the same pattern of transcripts which encode for a single common polypeptide in both male and female flies. The gene shares a high degree of similarity in sequence and expression to its Ceratitis capitata orthologous and does not appear to play a key regulatory role in the sex-determining cascade. B. oleae dsx gene (Bodsx) expands in a chromosomal region of more than 50 kb, with 6 exons-5 introns, producing different sex-specific mRNAs, according to the Drosophila model. The cDNA sequences are almost identical to the gene orthologous of Bactrocera tryoni. Four repeat elements identical to the D. melanogaster TRA/TRA-2 binding sites have been found in the untranslated region of the female-specific exon 4, predicting a common regulatory splicing mechanism in all studied species of Diptera.
authors.affiliation: Division of Genetics and Biotechnology, Department of Biology, University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, Kouponia, 157 01 Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lagos
authors.forename: M Fernanda
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Ruiz
authors.forename: Lucas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sánchez
authors.forename: Katia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Komitopoulou
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics; D005091:Exons; D005260:Female; D017344:Genes, Insect / Q000235:genetics; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D007438:Introns; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012313:RNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012737:Sex Factors; D033621:Tephritidae / Q000235:genetics*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C070369:DSX protein, Drosophila; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D019476:Insect Proteins; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; C067777:Sxl protein, Drosophila; D012313:RNA; D004247:DNA