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Evidence for involvement of a transformer paralogue in sex determination of the wasp Leptopilina clavipes
Author(s) -
Geuverink E.,
Kraaijeveld K.,
Leussen M.,
Chen F.,
Pijpe J.,
Linskens M. H. K.,
Beukeboom L. W.,
Zande L.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
insect molecular biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.955
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1365-2583
pISSN - 0962-1075
DOI - 10.1111/imb.12522
Subject(s) - biology , hymenoptera , gene , genetics , genome , evolutionary biology , botany
Transformer ( tra ) is the central gear in many insect sex determination pathways and transduces a wide range of primary signals. Mediated by transformer‐2 ( tra2 ) it directs sexual development into the female or male mode. Duplications of tra have been detected in numerous Hymenoptera, but a function in sex determination has been confirmed only in Apis mellifera . We identified a tra2 orthologue ( Lc‐tra2 ), a tra orthologue ( Lc‐tra ) and a tra paralogue ( Lc‐traB ) in the genome of Leptopilina clavipes (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae). We compared the sequence and structural conservation of these genes between sexual (arrhenotokous) and asexual all‐female producing (thelytokous) individuals. Lc‐tra is sex‐specifically spliced in adults consistent with its orthologous function. The male‐specific regions of Lc‐tra are conserved in both reproductive modes. The paralogue Lc‐traB lacks the genomic region coding for male‐specific exons and can only be translated into a full‐length TRA‐like peptide sequence. Furthermore, unlike LC‐TRA, the LC‐TRAB interstrain sequence variation is not differentiated into a sexual and an asexual haplotype. The LC‐TRAB protein interacts with LC‐TRA as well as LC‐TRA2. This suggests that Lc‐traB functions as a conserved element in sex determination of sexual and asexual individuals.