Sxl-Dependent, tra/tra2-Independent Alternative Splicing of the Drosophila melanogaster X-Linked Gene found in neurons.
Somatic sexual determination and behavior in Drosophila melanogaster are under the control of a genetic cascade initiated by Sex lethal (Sxl). In the female soma, SXL RNA-binding protein regulates the splicing of transformer (tra) transcripts into a female-specific form. The RNA-binding protein TRA and its cofactor TRA2 function in concert in females, whereas SXL, TRA, and TRA2 are thought to not function in males. To better understand sex-specific regulation of gene expression, we analyzed male and female head transcriptome datasets for expression levels and splicing, quantifying sex-biased gene expression via RNA-Seq and qPCR. Our data uncouple the effects of Sxl and tra/tra2 in females in the-sex-biased alternative splicing of head transcripts from the X-linked locus found in neurons (fne), encoding a pan-neuronal RNA-binding protein of the ELAV family. We show that FNE protein levels are downregulated by Sxl in female heads, also independently of tra/tra2. We argue that this regulation may have important sexually dimorphic consequences for the regulation of nervous system development or function.
Univ Paris-Sud, Centre de Neurosciences Paris-Sud, UMR 8195, Orsay, 91405 France CNRS UMR 8195, Univ Paris-Sud, Orsay, 91405 Cedex, France.
Xia
X
Sun
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 50 South Drive, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.
Haiwang
H
Yang
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 50 South Drive, Bethesda, Maryland 20892 Program in Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, and Genomics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742.
David
D
Sturgill
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 50 South Drive, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.
Brian
B
Oliver
Univ Paris-Sud, Centre de Neurosciences Paris-Sud, UMR 8195, Orsay, 91405 France CNRS UMR 8195, Univ Paris-Sud, Orsay, 91405 Cedex, France.
Leonard
L
Rabinow
Univ Paris-Sud, Centre de Neurosciences Paris-Sud, UMR 8195, Orsay, 91405 France CNRS UMR 8195, Univ Paris-Sud, Orsay, 91405 Cedex, France Marie-Laure.Samson@u-psud.fr.
Marie-Laure
ML
Samson
D000483:Alleles; D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000818:Animals; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D050172:Genes, X-Linked; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D008297:Male; D009154:Mutation; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D012261:Ribonucleoproteins / Q000235:genetics*; D059467:Transcriptome
D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D012261:Ribonucleoproteins; C067777:Sxl protein, Drosophila; C097162:Tra protein, Drosophila; C066174:tra2 protein, Drosophila
Sex lethal; alternative splicing; found in neurons; sex-specific regulation