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. 2022 Sep;18(9):20220116.
doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2022.0116. Epub 2022 Sep 7.

Masculinizer-induced dosage compensation is achieved by transcriptional downregulation of both copies of Z-linked genes in the silkworm, Bombyx mori

Kenta Tomihara  1 , Munetaka Kawamoto  1 , Yutaka Suzuki  2 , Susumu Katsuma  1 , Takashi Kiuchi  1
Affiliations

Masculinizer-induced dosage compensation is achieved by transcriptional downregulation of both copies of Z-linked genes in the silkworm, Bombyx mori

Kenta Tomihara et al. Biol Lett. 2022 Sep.

Abstract

The evolution of dosage compensation produces similar expression of sex-linked and autosomal genes in the heterogametic sex. The silkworm (Bombyx mori), a lepidopteran insect, has a female heterogametic WZ sex determination system. A Z-linked gene, Masculinizer (Masc), is the primary determinant of maleness and dosage compensation in B. mori. However, it remains unknown whether one of the two Z chromosomes is inactivated or both Z chromosomes are suppressed in B. mori males. Hence, we performed transcriptome analysis using hybrids between two B. mori strains and analysed allele-specific expression to distinguish these alternatives. Our analysis revealed that genes on both the maternal and paternal Z chromosomes are transcriptionally upregulated in Masc knocked down males. We therefore conclude that both Z chromosomes are transcriptionally downregulated in B. mori males, similar to the system in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Keywords: Bombyx mori; Masculinizer; dosage compensation; sex determination.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
A failure of dosage compensation in Masc RNAi embryos. (a) Schematic illustrations of ASE analysis in F1 individuals. (b,c) Chromosomal distribution of differentially expressed transcripts in female (b) and male (c) embryos injected with GFP (control) or Masc siRNAs. logFC: log2-fold change in expression ratios of genes in individuals injected with Masc siRNA (siMasc) compared with control individuals injected with GFP siRNA (siGFP), calculated from TMM-normalized read counts.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Masc-induced dosage compensation occurs in both maternal and paternal Z chromosomes in males. (a,b) The genome loci of Masc-regulated genes transcribed from maternal (a) and paternal (b) chromosomes in F1 males. (c) The genome loci of Masc-regulated genes transcribed from paternal chromosomes in F1 females. For each gene on each chromosome, log2-fold change (logFC) was calculated from TMM-normalized read counts of genes in individuals injected with Masc siRNA (siMasc) compared with control individuals injected with GFP siRNA (siGFP). The genes whose logFC > 0.5 were coloured in red, logFC < −0.5 were coloured in blue and −0.5 ≦ logFC ≦ 0.5 were coloured in grey. The maternal chromosomes in the F1 females were excluded since they possess only a paternal Z chromosome.
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