Evidence That Runt Acts as a Counter-Repressor of Groucho During Drosophila melanogaster Primary Sex Determination

X-SIGNAL AMPLIFICATION BY RUNT MEDIATED ANTAGONISM OF GROUCHO IN DROSOPHILA A Dissertation by SHARVANI MAHADEVARAJU

spenito is required for sex determination in Drosophila melanogaster.

Sex-lethal (Sxl) encodes the master regulator of the sex determination pathway in Drosophila and acts by controlling sex identity in both soma and germ line. In females Sxl maintains its own expression by controlling the alternative splicing of its own mRNA. Here, we identify a novel sex determination gene, spenito (nito) that encodes a SPEN family protein. Loss of nito activity results in stem...

Primary Sex Determination in Drosophila melanogaster Does Not Rely on the Male-Specific Lethal Complex.

It has been proposed that the Male Specific Lethal (MSL) complex is active in Drosophila melanogaster embryos of both sexes prior to the maternal-to-zygotic transition. Elevated gene expression from the two X chromosomes of female embryos is proposed to facilitate the stable establishment of Sex-lethal (Sxl) expression, which determines sex and represses further activity of the MSL complex, lea...

Primary Sex Determination in Drosophila melanogaster does not rely on the Male Specific Lethal (MSL) Complex

The Dh gene of Drosophila melanogaster encodes a diuretic peptide that acts through cyclic AMP.

Dh, the gene that encodes a CRF-like peptide in Drosophila melanogaster, is described. The product of this gene is a 44-amino-acid peptide (Drome-DH(44)) with a sequence almost identical to the Musca domestica and Stomoxys calcitrans diuretic hormones. There are no other similar peptides encoded within the known Drosophila genomic sequence. Functional studies showed that the deduced peptide sti...