Sxl-Dependent tra/tra2-Independent Alternative Splicing of the Drosophila melanogaster X-Linked Gene found in neurons

摘要

Somatic sexual determination and behavior in Drosophila melanogaster are under the control of a genetic cascade initiated by (). In the female soma, SXL RNA-binding protein regulates the splicing of () transcripts into a female-specific form. The RNA-binding protein TRA and its cofactor TRA2 function in concert in females, whereas SXL, TRA, and TRA2 are thought to not function in males. To better understand sex-specific regulation of gene expression, we analyzed male and female head transcriptome datasets for expression levels and splicing, quantifying sex-biased gene expression via RNA-Seq and qPCR. Our data uncouple the effects of and / in females in the-sex-biased alternative splicing of head transcripts from the X-linked locus (), encoding a pan-neuronal RNA-binding protein of the ELAV family. We show that FNE protein levels are downregulated by in female heads, also independently of tra/tra2. We argue that this regulation may have important sexually dimorphic consequences for the regulation of nervous system development or function.