Asymmetric interactions between doublesex and tissue- and sex-specific target genes mediate sexual dimorphism in beetles

DOI PDF Web Site 5 Citations

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Sexual dimorphisms fuel significant intraspecific variation and evolutionary diversification. Yet the developmental-genetic mechanisms underlying sex-specific development remain poorly understood. Here, we focus on the conserved sex-determination gene <jats:italic>doublesex</jats:italic> (<jats:italic>dsx</jats:italic>) and the mechanisms by which it mediates sex-specific development in a horned beetle species by combining systemic <jats:italic>dsx</jats:italic> knockdown, high-throughput sequencing of diverse tissues and a genome-wide analysis of Dsx-binding sites. We find that Dsx regulates sex-biased expression predominantly in males, that Dsx's target repertoires are highly sex- and tissue-specific and that Dsx can exercise its regulatory role via two distinct mechanisms: as a sex-specific modulator by regulating strictly sex-specific targets, or as a switch by regulating the same genes in males and females in opposite directions. More generally, our results suggest Dsx can rapidly acquire new target gene repertoires to accommodate evolutionarily novel traits, evidenced by the large and unique repertoire identified in head horns, a recent morphological innovation.</jats:p>

Journal

  • Nature Communications

    Nature Communications 8 (1), 14593-, 2017-02-27

    Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Citations (5)*help

See more

Report a problem

Back to top