spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Erickson, J. W.
Right arrow Articles by Cline, T. W.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Erickson, J. W.
Right arrow Articles by Cline, T. W.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Development, Vol 125, Issue 16 3259-3268, Copyright © 1998 by Company of Biologists

JOURNAL ARTICLES

Key aspects of the primary sex determination mechanism are conserved across the genus Drosophila

JW Erickson and TW Cline
Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Division of Genetics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3204, USA.

In D. melanogaster, a set of 'X:A numerator genes', which includes sisterlessA (sisA), determines sex by controlling the transcription of Sex-lethal (Sxl). We characterized sisA from D. pseudoobscura and D. virilis and studied the timing of sisA and Sxl expression with single cell-cycle resolution in D. virilis, both to guide structure-function studies of sisA and to help understand sex determination evolution. We found that D. virilis sisA shares 58% amino acid identity with its melanogaster ortholog. The identities confirm sisA as an atypical bZIP transcription factor. Although virilis sisA can substitute for melanogaster sisA, the protein is not fully functional in a heterologous context. The putative sisA regulatory sequence CAGGTAG is a potential 'numerator box,' since it is shared with the other strong X:A numerator gene, sisB, and its target, SxlPe. Temporal and spatial features of sisA and SxlPe expression are strikingly conserved, including rapid onset and cessation of transcription in somatic nuclei, early cessation of sisA transcription in budding pole cells and persistent high-level sisA expression in yolk nuclei. Expression of sisA and Sxl is as tightly coupled in virilis as it is in melanogaster. Taken together, these data indicate that the same primary sex determination mechanism exists throughout the genus Drosophila.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 GeneticsHome page
M. Telonis-Scott, A. Kopp, M. L. Wayne, S. V. Nuzhdin, and L. M. McIntyre
Sex-Specific Splicing in Drosophila: Widespread Occurrence, Tissue Specificity and Evolutionary Conservation
Genetics, February 1, 2009; 181(2): 421 - 434.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
A. N. Gonzalez, H. Lu, and J. W. Erickson
A shared enhancer controls a temporal switch between promoters during Drosophila primary sex determination
PNAS, November 25, 2008; 105(47): 18436 - 18441.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 DevelopmentHome page
J. R. t. Bosch, J. A. Benavides, and T. W. Cline
The TAGteam DNA motif controls the timing of Drosophila pre-blastoderm transcription
Development, May 15, 2006; 133(10): 1967 - 1977.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 GeneticsHome page
A. Pomiankowski, R. Nothiger, and A. Wilkins
The Evolution of the Drosophila Sex-Determination Pathway
Genetics, April 1, 2004; 166(4): 1761 - 1773.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 GeneticsHome page
M. Louis, L. Holm, L. Sanchez, and M. Kaufman
A Theoretical Model for the Regulation of Sex-lethal, a Gene That Controls Sex Determination and Dosage Compensation in Drosophila melanogaster
Genetics, November 1, 2003; 165(3): 1355 - 1384.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 GeneticsHome page
S. Yi, D. Bachtrog, and B. Charlesworth
A Survey of Chromosomal and Nucleotide Sequence Variation in Drosophila miranda
Genetics, August 1, 2003; 164(4): 1369 - 1381.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Mol. Cell. Biol.Home page
D. Yang, H. Lu, Y. Hong, T. M. Jinks, P. A. Estes, and J. W. Erickson
Interpretation of X Chromosome Dose at Sex-lethal Requires Non-E-Box Sites for the Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins SISB and Daughterless
Mol. Cell. Biol., March 1, 2001; 21(5): 1581 - 1592.
[Abstract] [Full Text]

Home page
 GeneticsHome page
M. Kovacevic and S. W. Schaeffer
Molecular Population Genetics of X-Linked Genes in Drosophila pseudoobscura
Genetics, September 1, 2000; 156(1): 155 - 172.
[Abstract] [Full Text]

Home page
 GeneticsHome page
J. J. Walker, K. K. Lee, R. N. Desai, and J. W. Erickson
The Drosophila melanogaster Sex Determination Gene sisA Is Required in Yolk Nuclei for Midgut Formation
Genetics, May 1, 2000; 155(1): 191 - 202.
[Abstract] [Full Text]

Home page
 GeneticsHome page
B. F. McAllister and G. A. T. McVean
Neutral Evolution of the Sex-Determining Gene transformer in Drosophila
Genetics, April 1, 2000; 154(4): 1711 - 1720.
[Abstract] [Full Text]

Home page
 ScienceHome page
I. Marín and B. S. Baker
The Evolutionary Dynamics of Sex Determination
Science, September 25, 1998; 281(5385): 1990 - 1994.
[Abstract] [Full Text]


© The Company of Biologists Ltd 1998