Molecular basis of sex determination in haplodiploids.
Sex in many species of Hymenoptera (ants, bees and wasps) is determined by a single locus that is heterozygous in females and hemizygous in (haploid) males. Beye and colleagues have now cloned the csd locus in the honeybee Apis mellifera and provide functional evidence that this gene is the primary switch in the sex-determination cascade of honeybees and possibly all Hymenoptera.
Evans
Jay D
JD
Bee Research Lab/USDA-ARS, BARC-East Bldg 476, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA. evansj@ba.ars.usda.gov
Shearman
Deborah C A
DC
Oldroyd
Benjamin P
BP