miR-124 controls male reproductive success in Drosophila
نویسندگان
چکیده
Many aspects of social behavior are controlled by sex-specific pheromones. Gender-appropriate production of the sexually dimorphic transcription factors doublesex and fruitless controls sexual differentiation and sexual behavior. miR-124 mutant males exhibited increased male-male courtship and reduced reproductive success with females. Females showed a strong preference for wild-type males over miR-124 mutant males when given a choice of mates. These effects were traced to aberrant pheromone production. We identified the sex-specific splicing factor transformer as a functionally significant target of miR-124 in this context, suggesting a role for miR-124 in the control of male sexual differentiation and behavior, by limiting inappropriate expression of the female form of transformer. miR-124 is required to ensure fidelity of gender-appropriate pheromone production in males. Use of a microRNA provides a secondary means of controlling the cascade of sex-specific splicing events that controls sexual differentiation in Drosophila. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.00640.001.
منابع مشابه
Testis-expressed cluster of microRNAs 959-964 controls spermatid differentiation in Drosophila melanogaster
MicroRNAs are a wide class of ~22 nt non-coding RNAs of metazoans capable of inhibiting target mRNAs translation by binding to partially complementary sites in their 3’UTRs. Due to their regulatory potential, miRNAs are implicated in functioning of a broad range of biological pathways and processes. Here we investigate the functions of the miR-959-964 cluster expressed predominantly in testes o...
متن کاملmiR-124 Regulates the Phase of Drosophila Circadian Locomotor Behavior.
UNLABELLED Animals use circadian rhythms to anticipate daily environmental changes. Circadian clocks have a profound effect on behavior. In Drosophila, for example, brain pacemaker neurons dictate that flies are mostly active at dawn and dusk. miRNAs are small, regulatory RNAs (≈22 nt) that play important roles in posttranscriptional regulation. Here, we identify miR-124 as an important regulat...
متن کاملTestis-expressed cluster of microRNAs 959-964 controls spermatid differentiation in Drosophila
MicroRNAs are a wide class of ~22 nt non-coding RNAs of metazoans capable of inhibiting target mRNAs translation by binding to partially complementary sites in their 3’UTRs. Due to their regulatory potential, miRNAs are implicated in functioning of a broad range of biological pathways and processes. Here we investigate the functions of the miR-959-964 cluster expressed predominantly in testes o...
متن کاملParasite-induced risk of mortality elevates reproductive effort in male Drosophila.
A trade-off between sex and somatic maintenance is fundamental to life-history theory. Tests of this trade-off usually emphasize deleterious consequences of increased reproduction on life span. Here we show the reverse effect, that reductions in the expected life span elevate sexual activity. Experimentally parasitized male Drosophila nigrospiracula lived shorter lives, but before dying, they c...
متن کاملDrosophila miR-124 regulates neuroblast proliferation through its target anachronism.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been implicated as regulators of central nervous system (CNS) development and function. miR-124 is an evolutionarily ancient, CNS-specific miRNA. On the basis of the evolutionary conservation of its expression in the CNS, miR-124 is expected to have an ancient conserved function. Intriguingly, investigation of miR-124 function using antisense-mediated miRNA depletion has...
متن کامل