A sex-specific transcription factor controls male identity in a simultaneous hermaphrodite

Tracy Chong, James J. Collins, John L. Brubacher, David Zarkower and Phillip A. Newmark ()
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Tracy Chong: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
James J. Collins: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
John L. Brubacher: Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, Canadian Mennonite University
David Zarkower: Cell Biology and Development, University of Minnesota Medical School
Phillip A. Newmark: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Nature Communications, 2013, vol. 4, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Evolutionary transitions between hermaphroditic and dioecious reproductive states are found in many groups of animals. To understand such transitions, it is important to characterize diverse modes of sex determination utilized by metazoans. Currently, little is known about how simultaneous hermaphrodites specify and maintain male and female organs in a single individual. Here we show that a sex-specific gene, Smed-dmd-1 encoding a predicted doublesex/male-abnormal-3 (DM) domain transcription factor, is required for specification of male germ cells in a simultaneous hermaphrodite, the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea. dmd-1 has a male-specific role in the maintenance and regeneration of the testes and male accessory reproductive organs. In addition, a homologue of dmd-1 exhibits male-specific expression in Schistosoma mansoni, a derived, dioecious flatworm. These results demonstrate conservation of the role of DM domain genes in sexual development in lophotrochozoans and suggest one means by which modulation of sex-specific pathways can drive the transition from hermaphroditism to dioecy.

Date: 2013
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms2811

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