A DBHS family member regulates male determination in the filariasis vector Armigeres subalbatus

Peiwen Liu, Wenqiang Yang, Ling Kong, Siyu Zhao, Zhensheng Xie, Yijie Zhao, Yang Wu, Yijia Guo, Yugu Xie, Tong Liu, Binbin Jin, Jinbao Gu, Zhijian Jake Tu (), Anthony A. James () and Xiao-Guang Chen ()
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Peiwen Liu: Southern Medical University
Wenqiang Yang: Southern Medical University
Ling Kong: Southern Medical University
Siyu Zhao: Southern Medical University
Zhensheng Xie: Southern Medical University
Yijie Zhao: Southern Medical University
Yang Wu: Southern Medical University
Yijia Guo: Southern Medical University
Yugu Xie: Southern Medical University
Tong Liu: Southern Medical University
Binbin Jin: Southern Medical University
Jinbao Gu: Southern Medical University
Zhijian Jake Tu: Virginia Tech
Anthony A. James: University of California
Xiao-Guang Chen: Southern Medical University

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract The initial signals governing sex determination vary widely among insects. Here we show that Armigeres subalbatus M factor (AsuMf), a male-specific duplication of an autosomal gene of the Drosophila behaviour/human splicing (DBHS) gene family, is the potential primary signal for sex determination in the human filariasis vector mosquito, Ar. subalbatus. Our results show that AsuMf satisfies two fundamental requirements of an M factor: male-specific expression and early embryonic expression. Ablations of AsuMf result in a shift from male- to female-specific splicing of doublesex and fruitless, leading to feminization of males both in morphology and general transcription profile. These data support the conclusion that AsuMf is essential for male development in Ar. subalbatus and reveal a male-determining factor that is derived from duplication and subsequent neofunctionalization of a member of the conserved DBHS family.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37983-y

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