Maleness-on-the-Y (MoY) orchestrates male sex determination in major agricultural fruit fly pests(354 views) Meccariello A, Salvemini M, Primo P, Hall B, Koskinioti P, Dalikova M, Gravina A, Gucciardino MA, Forlenza F, Gregoriou ME, Ippolito D, Monti SM, Petrella V, Perrotta MM, Schmeing S, Ruggiero A, Scolari F, Giordano E, Tsoumani KT, Marec F, Windbichler N, Arunkumar KP, Bourtzis K, Mathiopoulos KD, Ragoussis J, Vitagliano L, Tu Z, Papathanos PA, Robinson MD, Saccone G
Department of Biology, University of Naples "Federico II," 80126, Napoli, Italy., Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA., Insect Pest Control Laboratory, Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, A-1400 Vienna, Austria., Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Thessaly, Larissa, 41500 Greece., Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Entomology, 370 05 Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic., Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, 370 05 Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic., Institute of Biostructures and Bioimaging (IBB), CNR, 80134 Naples, Italy., Institute of Molecular Life Sciences and SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland., Department of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Pavia, Pavia, 27100, Italy., Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, SW7 2AZ, UK., Centre of Excellence for Genetics and Genomics of Silkmoths, Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad 500 039, India., McGill University and Genome Quebec Innovation Centre, Department of Human Genetics and Bioengineering, Montreal H3A 0G1, Canada., Section of Genomics and Genetics, Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Perugia, 06132, Italy. giuseppe.saccone@unina.it mark.robinson@imls.uzh.ch p.papathanos@mail.huji.ac.il., Department of Entomology, The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, 76100, Israel., Institute of Molecular Life Sciences and SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland. giuseppe.saccone@unina.it mark.robinson@imls.uzh.ch p.papathanos@mail.huji.ac.il., Department of Biology, University of Naples "Federico II," 80126, Napoli, Italy. giuseppe.saccone@unina.it mark.robinson@imls.uzh.ch p.papathanos@mail.huji.ac.il.,
Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061
References: Not available.
Maleness-on-the-Y (MoY) orchestrates male sex determination in major agricultural fruit fly pests
In insects, rapidly evolving primary sex-determining signals are transduced by a conserved regulatory module controlling sexual differentiation. In the agricultural pest Ceratitis capitata (Mediterranean fruit fly, or Medfly), we identified a Y-linked gene, Maleness-on-the-Y (MoY), encoding a small protein that is necessary and sufficient for male development. Silencing or disruption of MoY in XY embryos causes feminization, whereas overexpression of MoY in XX embryos induces masculinization. Crosses between transformed XY females and XX males give rise to males and females, indicating that a Y chromosome can be transmitted by XY females. MoY is Y-linked and functionally conserved in other species of the Tephritidae family, highlighting its potential to serve as a tool for developing more effective control strategies against these major agricultural insect pests.
Maleness-on-the-Y (MoY) orchestrates male sex determination in major agricultural fruit fly pests