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The autoregulatory loop: A common mechanism of regulation of key sex determining genes in insects

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An Erratum to this article was published on 23 November 2016

Abstract

Sex determination in most insects is structured as a gene cascade, wherein a primary signal is passed through a series of sex-determining genes, culminating in a downstream double-switch known as doublesex that decides the sexual fate of the embryo. From the literature available on sex determination cascades, it becomes apparent that sex determination mechanisms have evolved rapidly. The primary signal that provides the cue to determine the sex of the embryo varies remarkably, not only among taxa, but also within taxa. Furthermore, the upstream key gene in the cascade also varies between species and even among closely related species. The order Insecta alone provides examples of astoundingly complex diversity of upstream key genes in sex determination mechanisms. Besides, unlike key upstream genes, the downstream double-switch gene is alternatively spliced to form functional sex-specific isoforms. This sex-specific splicing is conserved across insect taxa. The genes involved in the sex determination cascade such as Sex-lethal (Sxl) in Drosophila melanogaster, transformer (tra) in many other dipterans, coleopterans and hymenopterans, Feminizer (fem) in Apis mellifera, and IGF-II mRNA-binding protein (Bmimp) in Bombyx mori are reported to be regulated by an autoregulatory positive feedback loop. In this review, by taking examples from various insects, we propose the hypothesis that autoregulatory loop mechanisms of sex determination might be a general strategy. We also discuss the possible reasons for the evolution of autoregulatory loops in sex determination cascades and their impact on binary developmental choices.

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Acknowledgements

This work is sincerely dedicated to late Dr J Nagaraju (demise 31 December 2012). SKS and GG are recipients of senior research fellowships from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India. We thank Prof Leonard Rabinow for his critical review of the manuscript. We acknowledge the financial support from the Indo-French Center for the Promotion of Advanced Research (IFCPAR award 4903-4).

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  1. Centre of Excellence for Genetics and Genomics of Silkmoths, Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad, 500 001, India

    Suresh Kumar Sawanth, Gajula Gopinath, Nagraj Sambrani & Kallare P Arunkumar

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  1. Suresh Kumar Sawanth
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  2. Gajula Gopinath
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Correspondence to Kallare P Arunkumar.

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Corresponding editor: Stuart A Newman

[Sawanth SK, Gopinath G, Sambrani N and Arunkumar KP 2016 The autoregulatory loop: A common mechanism of regulation of key sex determining genes in insects. J. Biosci.] DOI 10.1007/s12038-016-9609-x

Suresh Kumar Sawanth and Gajula Gopinath contributed equally to this review.

An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12038-016-9653-6.

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Sawanth, S.K., Gopinath, G., Sambrani, N. et al. The autoregulatory loop: A common mechanism of regulation of key sex determining genes in insects. J Biosci 41, 283–294 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12038-016-9609-x

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