RNA Interference Studies on the Sex- Linked Genes transformer-2and sex-lethal in the Oriental River Prawn Macrobrachium nipponense

摘要

The sex-lethal (sxl) and transformer-2 (tra-2) genes play key roles in the regulation of the sex differentiation pathway in insects. This study investigated the transcriptional patterns of Mntra-2 and Mnsxl in different tissues in the oriental river prawn Macrobrachium nipponense. The qPCR results showed that the highest level of Mntra-2 expression was observed in the muscle, and the highest level of Mnsxl expression was observed in the hepatopancreas. RNA interference with Mntra-2/Mnsxl dsRNA effectively resulted in a decrease in the expression of Mntra-2/Mnsxl in the muscle, hepatopancreas and gonads in both males and females. Mntra-2 dsRNA had a significant inhibitory effect on Mnsxl mRNA expression in the testis and ovaries, but Mnsxl dsRNA did not affect Mntra-2 mRNA expression in either organ. Thus, Mntra-2 may be an upstream gene in the sex determination pathway in M. nipponense, and the regulatory mechanisms may be different from those observed in Drosophila melanogaster, even though these genes are homologous to the Drosophila tra-2 and sxl sex-determination genes. Thus, the present results are preliminary and the sex determination pathway in M. nipponense needs further in-depth research.