Nix alone is sufficient to convert female Aedes aegypti into fertile males and myo-sex is needed for male flight

dc.contributor.authorAryan, Azadehen
dc.contributor.authorAnderson, Michelle A. E.en
dc.contributor.authorBiedler, James K.en
dc.contributor.authorQi, Yuminen
dc.contributor.authorOvercash, Justin M.en
dc.contributor.authorNaumenko, Anastasia N.en
dc.contributor.authorSharakhova, Maria V.en
dc.contributor.authorMao, Chunhongen
dc.contributor.authorAdelman, Zach N.en
dc.contributor.authorTu, Zhijian Jakeen
dc.date.accessioned2020-07-16T12:56:48Zen
dc.date.available2020-07-16T12:56:48Zen
dc.date.issued2020-06-12en
dc.description.abstractA dominant male-determining locus (M-locus) establishes the male sex (M/m) in the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti. Nix, a gene in the M-locus, was shown to be a male-determining factor (M factor) as somatic knockout of Nix led to feminized males (M/m) while transient expression of Nix resulted in partially masculinized females (m/m), with male reproductive organs but retained female antennae. It was not clear whether any of the other 29 genes in the 1.3-Mb M-locus are also needed for complete sexconversion. Here, we report the generation of multiple transgenic lines that express Nix under the control of its own promoter. Genetic and molecular analyses of these lines provided insights unattainable from previous transient experiments. We show that the Nix transgene alone, in the absence of the M-locus,was sufficient to convert females into males with all male-specific sexually dimorphic features and male-like gene expression. The converted m/m males are flightless, unable to perform the nuptial flight required for mating. However, they were able to father sex-converted progeny when presented with cold-anesthetized wild-type females. We show that myo-sex, a myosin heavy-chain gene also in the M-locus, was required for male flight as knockout of myo-sex rendered wild-type males flightless. We also show that Nix-mediated female-to-male conversion was 100% penetrant and stable over many generations. Therefore, Nix has great potential for developing mosquito control strategies to reduce vector populations by female-to-male sex conversion, or to aid in a sterile insect technique that requires releasing only non-biting males.en
dc.description.sponsorshipThis work is supported by NIH Grants AI123338 and AI121853 and the Virginia Agriculture Experimental Station.en
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2001132117en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/99359en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherNASen
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/en
dc.subjectmosquitoen
dc.subjectsex-determinationen
dc.subjectM factoren
dc.subjectinfectious diseasesen
dc.subjectAedes aegyptien
dc.titleNix alone is sufficient to convert female Aedes aegypti into fertile males and myo-sex is needed for male flighten
dc.title.serialPNASen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
2001132117.full.pdf
Size:
1.05 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.5 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description: