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The C-terminus of DSXF5 protein acts as a novel regulatory domain in Bombyx mori

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Abstract

The doublesex gene regulates the somatic sexual development of Bombyx mori by alternatively splicing into sex-specific splice forms. In our previous study, the splice form Bmdsx F7, which encodes the BmDSXF5 protein, was found to be expressed in a female-specific manner and to contain a novel C-terminus. In this study, we aimed to investigate the role of this C-terminus. Two transgenic lines, L1 and L2, were constructed to ectopically express Bmdsx F7 in males. Phenotype and W chromosome-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis showed that developmental abnormalities and sex reversal did not occur. Moreover, the sex ratio was also normal. Quantitative PCR revealed that the expression levels of SP1 and Vg were upregulated in the fat body of transgenic males. Additionally, the expression level of PBP was downregulated in the antenna of transgenic males. The results suggested that the C-terminus of BmDSXF5 functioned as a regulatory domain during regulation of downstream target gene expression and that BmDSXF5 participated in the sexual development of somatic cells together with other DSX proteins in B. mori.

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Abbreviations

Bmdsx :

Bombyx mori doublesex

Bmdsx F :

Female-specific splice form of Bmdsx

Bmdsx M :

Male-specific splice form of Bmdsx

pA:

SV40 polyadenylation signal

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Acknowledgments

The work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (2012CB114600), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31501900), the Scientific and Technological Project (152300410116) and the Higher Education Institution Project (16A180032) in Henan Province, and the High-level Personnel Special Support Plan in Nanyang Normal University (70639).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400716, People’s Republic of China

    Jianping Duan, Sanyuan Ma, Feng Wang, Huozhen Guo, Liying Zhang, Ping Zhao & Qingyou Xia

  2. Henan Provincial Key Laboratory of Funiu Mountain Insect Biology and School of Education, Nanyang Normal University, Nanyang, 473061, People’s Republic of China

    Jianping Duan, Xianxin Meng, Yunchao Kan & Lunguang Yao

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  1. Jianping Duan
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  2. Xianxin Meng
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  3. Sanyuan Ma
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  4. Feng Wang
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  5. Huozhen Guo
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  6. Liying Zhang
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  7. Ping Zhao
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  8. Yunchao Kan
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  9. Lunguang Yao
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  10. Qingyou Xia
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Correspondence to Qingyou Xia.

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Duan, J., Meng, X., Ma, S. et al. The C-terminus of DSXF5 protein acts as a novel regulatory domain in Bombyx mori . Transgenic Res 25, 491–497 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11248-016-9946-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11248-016-9946-4

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