title: The role of doublesex in the evolution of exaggerated horns in the Japanese rhinoceros beetle.
abstract: Male-specific exaggerated horns are an evolutionary novelty and have diverged rapidly via intrasexual selection. Here, we investigated the function of the conserved sex-determination gene doublesex (dsx) in the Japanese rhinoceros beetle (Trypoxylus dichotomus) using RNA interference (RNAi). Our results show that the sex-specific T. dichotomus dsx isoforms have an antagonistic function for head horn formation and only the male isoform has a role for thoracic horn formation. These results indicate that the novel sex-specific regulation of dsx during horn morphogenesis might have been the key evolutionary developmental event at the transition from sexually monomorphic to sexually dimorphic horns.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Sericulture & Entomoresources, Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuta
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Ayane
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Harigai
authors.forename: Moe
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakata
authors.forename: Tadatsugu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hosoya
authors.forename: Kunio
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Araya
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Oba
authors.forename: Akinori
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohde
authors.forename: Toshinobu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yaginuma
authors.forename: Teruyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Niimi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000235:genetics*; D003163:Competitive Behavior; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques; D017344:Genes, Insect; D006733:Horns / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D007814:Larva / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D052586:Mating Preference, Animal; D010641:Phenotype; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D034622:RNA Interference; D012727:Sex Characteristics
chemical_list: D019476:Insect Proteins; D020033:Protein Isoforms