title: Cloning and functional characterization of the intersex homologous gene in the pest lepidopteron Maruca vitrata.
abstract: The intersex (ix) gene works in concert with doublesex (dsx) at the bottom of the sex-determination hierarchy to control somatic sexual differentiation in Drosophila melanogaster females. Here we report the isolation and characterization of the Drosophila intersex (ix) homologue in the pest lepidopteron Maruca vitrata (Mvix). The Mvix gene exhibits major complexity with respect to the Drosophila homolog. It is expressed in males and females and its pre-mRNA is subject to differential splicing events which affect both the protein coding and the non-coding regions. Moreover, Northern blot experiments revealed the presence of a female-specific transcript in pupae RNA, which appears to be the first described sex specific transcript of ix homologs characterized to date. The expression of Mvix cDNA in D.melanogaster transgenic flies indicates that the MvIX product, which shares a relatively high degree of homology with the D.melanogaster IX protein, is able to partially rescues the Drosophila mutant phenotype.
authors: Institute of Genetics and Biophisics Adriano Buzzati-Traverso-CNR, Naples, Italy.
authors: Daniela
authors: D
authors: Cavaliere
authors: Francesca
authors: F
authors: Di Cara
authors: Lino C
authors: LC
authors: Polito
authors: Filomena Anna
authors: FA
authors: Digilio
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D001483:Base Sequence; D012831:Bombyx / Q000235:genetics; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D017344:Genes, Insect; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009036:Moths / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D012733:Sex Differentiation / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D013045:Species Specificity; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; C468125:IX protein, Drosophila; D019476:Insect Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors