Identification and characterization of the masculinizing function of the helicoverpa armigera masc gene
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Department of Entomology, University of ArizonaIssue Date
2021
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Deng, Z., Zhang, Y., Li, Y., Huang, K., Chen, X., Zhang, M., Huang, J., Ni, X., & Li, X. (2021). Identification and characterization of the masculinizing function of the helicoverpa armigera masc gene. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 22(16).Rights
Copyright © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Collection Information
This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.Abstract
The Masculinizer (Masc) gene has been known to control sex development and dosage compensation in lepidopterans. However, it remains unclear whether its ortholog exists and plays the same roles in distantly related lepidopterans such as Helicoverpa armigera. To address this question, we cloned Masc from H. armigera (HaMasc), which contains all essential functional domains of BmMasc, albeit with less than 30% amino acid sequence identity with BmMasc. Genomic PCR and qPCR analyses showed that HaMasc is a Z chromosome‐linked gene since its genomic content in males (ZZ) was two times greater than that in females (ZW). RT‐PCR and RT‐qPCR analyses revealed that HaMasc expression was sex‐ and stage‐biased, with significantly more transcripts in males and eggs than in females and other stages. Transfection of a mixture of three siRNAs of HaMasc into a male embryonic cell line of H. armigera led to the appearance of female‐specific mRNA splicing isoforms of H. armigera doublesex (Hadsx), a downstream target gene of HaMasc in the H. armigera sex determination pathway. The knockdown of HaMasc, starting from the third instar larvae resulted in a shift of Hadsx splicing from male to female isoforms, smaller male pupa and testes, fewer but larger/longer spermatocytes and sperm bundles, delayed pupation and internal fusion of the testes and follicles. These data demonstrate that HaMasc functions as a masculinizing gene in the H. armigera sex‐determination cascade. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Note
Open access journalISSN
1661-6596Version
Final published versionae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.3390/ijms22168650
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Copyright © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).