English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

Background  The  doublesex  gene controls somatic sexual differentiation of many metazoan species, including the malaria mosquito  Anopheles gambiae  and the dengue and yellow fever vector  Aedes aegypti  (Diptera: Culicidae). As in other studied dipteran  dsx  homologs, the gene maintains functionality via evolutionarily conserved protein domains and sex-specific alternative splicing. The upstream factors that regulate splicing of  dsx  and the manner in which they do so however remain variable even among closely related organisms. As the induction of sex ratio biases is a central mode of action in many emerging molecular insecticides, it is imperative to elucidate as much of the sex determination pathway as possible in the mosquito disease vectors.    Results  Here we report the full-length gene sequence of the  doublesex  gene in  Culex quinquefasciatus  ( Cxqdsx ) and its male and female-specific isoforms.  Cxqdsx  maintains characteristics possibly derived in the Culicinae and present in the  Aedes aegypti dsx  gene ( Aeadsx ) such as gain of exon 3b and the presence of Rbp1  cis -regulatory binding sites, and also retains presumably ancestral attributes present in  Anopheles gambiae  such as maintenance of a singular female-specific exon 5. Unlike in  Aedes aegypti , we find no evidence for intron gain in the female transcript(s), yet recover a second female isoform generated via selection of an alternate splice donor. Utilizing next-gen sequence (NGS) data, we complete the  Aeadsx  gene model and identify a putative core promoter region in both  Aeadsx  and  Cxqdsx.  Also utilizing NGS data, we construct a full-length gene sequence for the  dsx  homolog of the northern house mosquito  Culex pipiens  form pipiens ( Cxpipdsx ). Analysis of peptide evolutionary rates between  Cxqdsx  and  Cxpipdsx  (both members of the  Culex pipiens  complex) shows the male-specific portion of the transcript to have evolved rapidly with respect to female-specific and common regions.    Conclusions  As in other studied insects,  doublesex  maintains sex-specific splicing and conserved  doublesex /mab-3 domains in the mosquitoes  Culex quinquefasciatus  and  Cx. pipiens . The  cis -regulated splicing of  Cxqdsx  does not appear to follow either currently described mosquito model (for  An. gambiae  and  Ae. aegypti ); each of the three mosquito genera exhibit evidence of unique cis-regulatory mechanisms. The male-specific  dsx  terminus exhibits rapid peptide evolutionary rates, even among closely related sibling species.    Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12862-015-0386-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

bmc evolutionary biology

Characterization of the doublesex gene within the Culex pipiens complex suggests regulatory plasticity at the base of the mosquito sex determination cascade