{"title":"Evolution of the sex-determination gene Doublesex within the termite lineage","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.cbd.2024.101297","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The molecular mechanism of sex determination has long been considered conserved in insects. However, recent studies of hemimetabolous insects have challenged this notion. One notable example is termites. In <em>Reticulitermes speratus</em>, a homolog of sex determination gene, <em>Doublesex</em> (<em>RsDsx</em>), exhibits characteristics that are distinct from those of other insects, including sister-group cockroaches. It comprises a single exon, contains only doublesex/mab-3 DNA-binding domain (DM) but lacks a conserved oligomerization domain (OD), and exhibits transcriptional activity only in males. To investigate whether these characteristics are widespread within the termite lineage, we identified <em>Dsx</em> homologs in three different families. The absence of the conserved OD sequences was observed in all termite species examined, whereas the number of exons and expression patterns between sexes varied among families. Particularly, distinctive differences in <em>Dsx</em> were found in species from the Archotermopsidae and Kalotermitidae, both of which have a linear caste developmental pathway. Our findings indicate that diversification of <em>Dsx</em> structure and expression patterns may have contributed to ecological diversification, such as caste developmental pathways, within the termite lineage.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":55235,"journal":{"name":"Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology D-Genomics & Proteomics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1744117X24001102/pdfft?md5=3f1a71af247cd0c5ae18e5930236dd28&pid=1-s2.0-S1744117X24001102-main.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology D-Genomics & Proteomics","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1744117X24001102","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The molecular mechanism of sex determination has long been considered conserved in insects. However, recent studies of hemimetabolous insects have challenged this notion. One notable example is termites. In Reticulitermes speratus, a homolog of sex determination gene, Doublesex (RsDsx), exhibits characteristics that are distinct from those of other insects, including sister-group cockroaches. It comprises a single exon, contains only doublesex/mab-3 DNA-binding domain (DM) but lacks a conserved oligomerization domain (OD), and exhibits transcriptional activity only in males. To investigate whether these characteristics are widespread within the termite lineage, we identified Dsx homologs in three different families. The absence of the conserved OD sequences was observed in all termite species examined, whereas the number of exons and expression patterns between sexes varied among families. Particularly, distinctive differences in Dsx were found in species from the Archotermopsidae and Kalotermitidae, both of which have a linear caste developmental pathway. Our findings indicate that diversification of Dsx structure and expression patterns may have contributed to ecological diversification, such as caste developmental pathways, within the termite lineage.
期刊介绍:
Comparative Biochemistry & Physiology (CBP) publishes papers in comparative, environmental and evolutionary physiology.
Part D: Genomics and Proteomics (CBPD), focuses on “omics” approaches to physiology, including comparative and functional genomics, metagenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and lipidomics. Most studies employ “omics” and/or system biology to test specific hypotheses about molecular and biochemical mechanisms underlying physiological responses to the environment. We encourage papers that address fundamental questions in comparative physiology and biochemistry rather than studies with a focus that is purely technical, methodological or descriptive in nature.