Doublesex gene in Bombyx mori: CRISPR-mediated female-to-male sex reversal through exon skipping

文献类型： 外文期刊

第一作者： Yuan, Yajie

作者： Yuan, Yajie;Zhou, Tingting;Yang, Zongmeng;Zhang, Yahui;Ye, Zhanfeng;Liu, Lulu;Zheng, Lu;Yan, Zhengwen;Hu, Hai;Han, Minjin;Westhof, Eric;Dai, Fangyin;Tong, Xiaoling;Ye, Zhanfeng;Yan, Zhengwen;Westhof, Eric

作者机构：

关键词： doublesex (dsx) gene; sex reversal; exon skipping; gonadal development; pest control

期刊名称：PEST MANAGEMENT SCIENCE （ 影响因子：3.8； 五年影响因子：4.3 ）

ISSN： 1526-498X

年卷期： 2025 年 81 卷 9 期

页码：

收录情况： SCI

摘要： BACKGROUNDSex control technology has great potential to improve the efficiency of economic insect utilization and integrated pest management by enabling targeted population suppression or elimination. The silkworm (Bombyx mori), a lepidopteran model, holds immense economic importance attributable to its unique silk production capabilities. Male silkworms favored over females as a result of their higher yield and quality silk. Doublesex (dsx) is a key gene for sex determination in insects. Previously, inactivation of Bmdsx, among other sex determination-related genes, resulted in intersex individuals rather than a complete female-to-male transformation.RESULTSWe used CRISPR/Cas9 technology to edit the splice sites of Bmdsx at female-specific exons 3 and 4 to induce transformation of BmdsxF to BmdsxM. The edited genome produced only male-specific BmdsxM. The results revealed that these genetic modifications had significant effects on genital development in female individuals. The edited genome led to the emergence of male-specific gonads in females, causing genital developmental defects. However, it is worth noting that males remained unaffected by these genetic alterations. Furthermore, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of dsx gene structure and explored the potential applicability of this method for inducing female-to-male transgenic transformation in other insects.CONCLUSIONSThis study demonstrates that precision editing of dsx splice sites can enforce unidirectional sex conversion in insects, disrupting female reproductive capacity without affecting males. Overall, these findings provide valuable insights into our understanding of gonadal development and insect population management. (c) 2025 Society of Chemical Industry.

分类号：

  • 相关文献
作者其他论文 更多>>

微信小程序