title: Sexually dimorphic traits in the silkworm, Bombyx mori, are regulated by doublesex.
abstract: The DM domain genes, doublesex (dsx) in insects, or their structural homologs, male abnormal 3 (mab-3) in nematodes and Dmrt1 (doublesex and mab-3-related transcription factor 1) in mammals, are downstream regulators of the sex determination pathway that control sexually dimorphic development. Despite the functional importance of dsx and its potential applications in sterile insect technologies (SITs), the mechanisms by which it controls sexually dimorphic traits and the subsequent developmental gene networks in insects are poorly understood. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that insect dsx genes have sex-specific alternative splicing isoforms, whereas other taxa do not. We exploited genome editing and transgenesis technologies to induce mutations in either the male-specific isoform (dsxM) or common region (dsxC) of dsx in the somatic tissues of the lepidopteran model insect Bombyx mori. Disruptions of gene function produced either male-specific sexually-dimorphic defects or intersexual phenotypes; these results differ from those observed in other insects, including Drosophila melanogaster. Our data provide insights into the divergence of the insect sex determination pathways related to the most conserved downstream component dsx.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Shuai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Shuqing
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Baosheng
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Zhiqian
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics and Molecular Biology & Biochemistry, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-3900, United States. Electronic address: aajames@uci.edu.
authors.forename: Anthony A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: James
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China. Electronic address: ajtan01@sibs.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Anjiang
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China. Electronic address: yphuang@sibs.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Yongping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D012831:Bombyx / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D010802:Phylogeny; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D019849:Sex Determination Processes
chemical_list: D019476:Insect Proteins; D020033:Protein Isoforms
keywords: Bombyx mori; Genome editing; Sexual dimorphism; Sterile insect technology