scholarly journals Modulation of fatty acid elongation in cockroaches sustains sexually dimorphic hydrocarbons and female attractiveness

PLoS Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (7) ◽  
pp. e3001330
Author(s):  
Xiao-Jin Pei ◽  
Yong-Liang Fan ◽  
Yu Bai ◽  
Tian-Tian Bai ◽  
Coby Schal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fatty Acid ◽  
Sex Pheromone ◽  
Molecular Mechanism ◽  
Sex Differentiation ◽  
Biological Significance ◽  
Sexually Dimorphic ◽  
Contact Sex Pheromone ◽  
Fatty Acid Elongase ◽  
Female Specific ◽  
Male Specific

Insect cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) serve as important intersexual signaling chemicals and generally show variation between the sexes, but little is known about the generation of sexually dimorphic hydrocarbons (SDHCs) in insects. In this study, we report the molecular mechanism and biological significance that underlie the generation of SDHC in the German cockroach Blattella germanica. Sexually mature females possess more C29 CHCs, especially the contact sex pheromone precursor 3,11-DimeC29. RNA interference (RNAi) screen against the fatty acid elongase family members combined with heterologous expression of the genes in yeast revealed that both BgElo12 and BgElo24 were involved in hydrocarbon (HC) production, but BgElo24 is of wide catalytic activities and is able to provide substrates for BgElo12, and only the female-enriched BgElo12 is responsible for sustaining female-specific HC profile. Repressing BgElo12 masculinized the female CHC profile, decreased contact sex pheromone level, and consequently reduced the sexual attractiveness of female cockroaches. Moreover, the asymmetric expression of BgElo12 between the sexes is modulated by sex differentiation cascade. Specifically, male-specific BgDsx represses the transcription of BgElo12 in males, while BgTra is able to remove this effect in females. Our study reveals a novel molecular mechanism responsible for the formation of SDHCs and also provide evidences on shaping of the SDHCs by sexual selection, as females use them to generate high levels of contact sex pheromone.

scholarly journals Modulation of fatty acid elongation generates sexually dimorphic hydrocarbons and female attractiveness in Blattella germanica (L.)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao-Jin Pei ◽  
Yong-Liang Fan ◽  
Yu Bai ◽  
Tian-Tian Bai ◽  
Coby Schal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fatty Acid ◽  
Sex Pheromone ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Sex Differentiation ◽  
Blattella Germanica ◽  
Sexually Dimorphic ◽  
Contact Sex Pheromone ◽  
Fatty Acid Elongase ◽  
Pheromone Level ◽  
Cockroach Blattella Germanica

Insect cuticular compounds serve multiple functions. As important intersexual signaling chemicals, they show variation between the sexes, but little is known about the underlying molecular mechanisms. Here, we report that sexually dimorphic hydrocarbons (SDHCs) are generated by a fatty acid elongase gene that is regulated by sex-differentiation genes in the German cockroach, Blattella germanica. Sexually mature females possess more C29 cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs), especially the contact sex pheromone precursor 3,11-DimeC29. An RNAi screen and heterologous expression revealed that BgElo12 and BgElo24 were involved in HC production, but only BgElo12 was responsible for SDHCs. Repressing female-enriched BgElo12 masculinized the female CHC profile, decreased contact sex pheromone level, and reduced the female sexual attractiveness. Moreover, RNAi of the sex-differentiation genes BgTra or BgDsx modulated both BgElo12 transcripts and CHC profiles in females and males. The SDHCs are shaped by sexual selection, as females use them to keep high levels of sex pheromone.

scholarly journals The fatty acid elongase Bond is essential for Drosophila sex pheromone synthesis and male fertility

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wan Chin Ng ◽  
Jacqueline S. R. Chin ◽  
Kah Junn Tan ◽  
Joanne Y. Yew
Keyword(s):  
Fatty Acid ◽  
Sex Pheromone ◽  
Male Fertility ◽  
Fatty Acid Elongase

STUDIES ON THE SEX-SPECIFIC LETHALS OF DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER. V. SEX TRANSFORMATION CAUSED BY INTERACTIONS BETWEEN A FEMALE-SPECIFIC LETHAL, Sxl  f#1, AND THE MALE-SPECIFIC LETHALS mle(3)132, msl-2  27, AND mle

Genetics ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 102 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-243
Author(s):  
T Uenoyama ◽  
A Fukunaga ◽  
K Ioshi
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
External Genitalia ◽  
Sexually Dimorphic ◽  
Female Progeny ◽  
Lethal Mutant ◽  
Male Type ◽  
Male Specific Lethal ◽  
Female Specific ◽  
Male Specific

ABSTRACT Interactions between a female-specific lethal mutant, Sxlf  #1, and each of three male-specific lethal mutants, mle(3)132, msl-2  27 and mle, of Drosophila melanogaster were observed to produce morphological changes in various sexually dimorphic external characters. Chromosomal females heterozygous for Sxlf  #1 and homozygous for any one of the male-specific lethals (and to a lesser degree heterozygous for male-specific lethals) sometimes had sex combs, male-type tergites, male-type sternites, male-type anal plates or male-type external genitalia. Penetrance was not high and expression was often incomplete; single individuals never had all the sexually dimorphic structures transformed. When mothers were homozygous for male-specific lethals, higher proportions of female progeny were affected than when mothers were heterozygous, suggesting a maternal effect.

scholarly journals Loss of Sexually Dimorphic Liver Gene Expression upon Hepatocyte-Specific Deletion of Stat5a-Stat5b Locus

Endocrinology ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 148 (5) ◽  
pp. 1977-1986 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minita G. Holloway ◽  
Yongzhi Cui ◽  
Ekaterina V. Laz ◽  
Atsushi Hosui ◽  
Lothar Hennighausen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight Gain ◽  
Class Ii ◽  
Cre Recombinase ◽  
Pcr Analysis ◽  
Sexually Dimorphic ◽  
Male Mice ◽  
Strong Suppression ◽  
Female Specific ◽  
Male Specific ◽  
Deficient Mice

Hepatocyte-specific, albumin-Cre recombinase-mediated deletion of the entire mouse Stat5a-Stat5b locus was carried out to evaluate the role of signal transducer and activator of transcription 5a and 5b (STAT5ab) in the sex-dependent transcriptional actions of GH in the liver. The resultant hepatocyte STAT5ab-deficient mice were fertile, and unlike global STAT5b-deficient male mice, postnatal body weight gain was normal, despite a 50% decrease in serum IGF-I. Whole-liver STAT5ab RNA decreased by approximately 65–85%, and residual STAT5 immunostaining was observed in a minority of the hepatocytes, indicating incomplete excision by Cre-recombinase. Quantitative PCR analysis of 20 sexually dimorphic, liver-expressed genes revealed significant down-regulation of 10 of 11 male-specific genes in livers of male hepatocyte STAT5ab-deficient mice. Class I female-specific liver genes were markedly up-regulated (de-repressed), whereas the expression of class II female genes, belonging to the Cyp3a subfamily, was unaffected by the loss of hepatocyte STAT5ab. STAT5ab is thus required in the liver for positive regulation of male-specific genes and for negative regulation of a subset of female-specific genes. Continuous GH infusion strongly induced (>500-fold) the class II female gene Cyp3a16 in both wild-type and hepatocyte STAT5ab-deficient male mice, indicating sex-specific transcriptional regulation by GH that is STAT5ab independent. In contrast, hepatocyte STAT5ab deficiency abolished the strong suppression of the male-specific Cyp2d9 by continuous GH seen in control mouse liver. Analysis of global STAT5a-deficient mice indicated no essential requirement of STAT5a for expression of these sex-specific liver Cyp genes. Thus, the major loss of liver sexual dimorphism in hepatocyte STAT5ab-deficient mice can primarily be attributed to the loss of STAT5b.

scholarly journals Inhibitory Interactions Among Olfactory Glomeruli Do Not Necessarily Reflect Spatial Proximity

2008 ◽  
Vol 100 (2) ◽  
pp. 554-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolina E. Reisenman ◽  
Thomas Heinbockel ◽  
John G. Hildebrand
Keyword(s):  
Sex Pheromone ◽  
Manduca Sexta ◽  
Spatial Proximity ◽  
Olfactory Glomeruli ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
Staining Methods ◽  
Output Neurons ◽  
Female Specific ◽  
Male Specific ◽  
Inhibitory Interactions

Inhibitory interactions shape the activity of output neurons in primary olfactory centers and promote contrast enhancement of odor representations. Patterns of interglomerular connectivity, however, are largely unknown. To test whether the proximity of glomeruli to one another is correlated with interglomerular inhibitory interactions, we used intracellular recording and staining methods to record the responses of projection (output) neurons (PNs) associated with glomeruli of known olfactory tuning in the primary olfactory center of the moth Manduca sexta. We focused on Toroid I, a glomerulus in the male-specific macroglomerular complex (MGC) specialized to one of the two key components of the conspecific females' sex pheromone, and the adjacent, sexually isomorphic glomerulus 35, which is highly sensitive to Z-3-hexenyl acetate (Z3-6:OAc). We used the two odorants to activate these reference glomeruli and tested the effects of olfactory activation in other glomeruli. We found that Toroid-I PNs were not inhibited by input to G35, whereas G35 PNs were inhibited by input to Toroid-I PNs. We also recorded the responses of PNs arborizing in other sexually isomorphic glomeruli to stimulation with the sex pheromone and Z3-6:OAc. We found that inhibitory responses were not related to proximity to the MGC and G35: both distant and adjacent PNs were inhibited by stimulation with the sex pheromone, some others were affected by only one odorant, and yet others by neither. Similar results were obtained in female PNs recorded in proximity to female-specific glomeruli. Our findings indicate that inhibitory interactions among glomeruli are widespread and independent of their spatial proximity.

scholarly journals Genetic architecture and sex-specific selection govern modular, male-biased evolution of doublesex

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. eaau3753 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saurav Baral ◽  
Gandhimathi Arumugam ◽  
Riddhi Deshmukh ◽  
Krushnamegh Kunte
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differentiation ◽  
Protein Structures ◽  
Modular Architecture ◽  
Master Regulators ◽  
Exon Level ◽  
Developmental Role ◽  
Conserved Gene ◽  
Female Specific ◽  
Male Specific ◽  
Specific Sequences

doublesex regulates early embryonic sex differentiation in holometabolous insects, along with the development of species-, sex-, and morph-specific adaptations during pupal stages. How does a highly conserved gene with a critical developmental role also remain functionally dynamic enough to gain ecologically important adaptations that are divergent in sister species? We analyzed patterns of exon-level molecular evolution and protein structural homology of doublesex from 145 species of four insect orders representing 350 million years of divergence. This analysis revealed that evolution of doublesex was governed by a modular architecture: Functional domains and female-specific regions were highly conserved, whereas male-specific sequences and protein structures evolved up to thousand-fold faster, with sites under pervasive and/or episodic positive selection. This pattern of sex bias was reversed in Hymenoptera. Thus, highly conserved yet dynamic master regulators such as doublesex may partition specific conserved and novel functions in different genic modules at deep evolutionary time scales.

scholarly journals Sex-determining genes distinctly regulate courtship capability and target preference via sexually dimorphic neurons

eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenichi Ishii ◽  
Margot Wohl ◽  
Andre DeSouza ◽  
Kenta Asahina
Keyword(s):  
Aggressive Behavior ◽  
Courtship Behavior ◽  
Sexually Dimorphic ◽  
Genetic Pathways ◽  
Neuronal Populations ◽  
Specific Enhancement ◽  
Male Animal ◽  
Courtship Behaviors ◽  
Female Specific ◽  
Male Specific

For successful mating, a male animal must execute effective courtship behaviors toward a receptive target sex, which is female. Whether the courtship execution capability and upregulation of courtship toward females are specified through separable sex-determining genetic pathways remains uncharacterized. Here, we found that one of the two Drosophila sex-determining genes, doublesex (dsx), specifies a male-specific neuronal component that serves as an execution mechanism for courtship behavior, whereas fruitless (fru) is required for enhancement of courtship behavior toward females. The dsx-dependent courtship execution mechanism includes a specific subclass within a neuronal cluster that co-express dsx and fru. This cluster contains at least another subclass that is specified cooperatively by both dsx and fru. Although these neuronal populations can also promote aggressive behavior toward male flies, this capacity requires fru-dependent mechanisms. Our results uncover how sex-determining genes specify execution capability and female-specific enhancement of courtship behavior through separable yet cooperative neurogenetic mechanisms.

scholarly journals Integrated lipidomics and proteomics reveal cardiolipin alterations, upregulation of HADHA and long chain fatty acids in pancreatic cancer stem cells

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Di Carlo ◽  
Bebiana C. Sousa ◽  
Marcello Manfredi ◽  
Jessica Brandi ◽  
Elisa Dalla Pozza ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pancreatic Cancer ◽  
Stem Cells ◽  
Fatty Acid ◽  
Cancer Stem Cells ◽  
Acyl Chain ◽  
Fatty Acid Elongase ◽  
Acyl Chains ◽  
A Chain ◽  
Pancreatic Cancer Stem Cells ◽  
Long Chain

AbstractPancreatic cancer stem cells (PCSCs) play a key role in the aggressiveness of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAC); however, little is known about their signaling and metabolic pathways. Here we show that PCSCs have specific and common proteome and lipidome modulations. PCSCs displayed downregulation of lactate dehydrogenase A chain, and upregulation of trifunctional enzyme subunit alpha. The upregulated proteins of PCSCs are mainly involved in fatty acid (FA) elongation and biosynthesis of unsaturated FAs. Accordingly, lipidomics reveals an increase in long and very long-chain unsaturated FAs, which are products of fatty acid elongase-5 predicted as a key gene. Moreover, lipidomics showed the induction in PCSCs of molecular species of cardiolipin with mixed incorporation of 16:0, 18:1, and 18:2 acyl chains. Our data indicate a crucial role of FA elongation and alteration in cardiolipin acyl chain composition in PCSCs, representing attractive therapeutic targets in PDAC.

scholarly journals Improving Contagion and Horizontal Transmission of Entomopathogenic Fungi by the White-Spotted Longicorn Beetle, Anoplophora malasiaca, with Help of Contact Sex Pheromone

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 383
Author(s):  
Nao Fujiwara-Tsujii ◽  
Hiroe Yasui
Keyword(s):  
Sex Pheromone ◽  
Entomopathogenic Fungi ◽  
Horizontal Transmission ◽  
Pathogenic Fungi ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Contact Sex Pheromone ◽  
Beauveria Brongniartii ◽  
Contact Pheromone ◽  
Horticultural Crops ◽  
Longicorn Beetle

The white-spotted longicorn beetle, Anoplophora malasiaca, is one of the most destructive pests of horticultural crops and street trees. Effective controls are needed because the effect of marketed insecticides is limited. Entomopathogenic fungi offer a solution, and improving the rate of infection would be a breakthrough in this beetle’s control. The combination of pathogenic fungi and the beetle’s contact sex pheromone was suggested. The surface of the female body is covered with contact sex pheromone, which elicit male mating behavior. To develop a method for the practical control of this beetle, we evaluated the arrestant activity of female extract containing contact pheromone coated on a black glass model. Males presented with a coated model held on for 5 h (mean) during an 8-h experiment. In contrast, males presented with a control model held on for <0.3 h. Males that held onto coated models attached to fabric impregnated with conidia of the fungus Beauveria brongniartii picked up much conidia, which they then passed on to females during mating.

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