近日,荷兰格罗宁根大学Louis van de Zande及其研究组发现,一个嵌合基因在单倍体黄蜂Nasonia中父向性指引的雌性性别决定。该研究于2020年11月27日发表于国际一流学术期刊《科学》。
Title: A chimeric gene paternally instructs female sex determination in the haplodiploid wasp Nasonia
Author: Yuan Zou, Elzemiek Geuverink, Leo W. Beukeboom, Eveline C. Verhulst, Louis van de Zande
Issue&Volume: 2020/11/27
Abstract: Various primary signals direct insect sex determination. In hymenopteran insects, the presence of a paternal genome is needed to initiate female development. When absent, uniparental haploid males develop. We molecularly and functionally identified the instructor sex-determination gene, wasp overruler of masculinization (wom), of the haplodiploid wasp Nasonia vitripennis. This gene contains a P53-like domain coding region and arose by gene duplication and genomic rearrangements. Maternal silencing of wom results in male development of haploid embryos. Upon fertilization, early zygotic transcription from the paternal wom allele is initiated, followed by a timely zygotic expression of transformer (tra), leading to female development. Wom is an instructor gene with a parent-of-origin effect in sex determination.
DOI: 10.1126/science.abb8949
Source: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/370/6520/1115