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Sex determining systems of Drosophila control somatic sexual differentiation by cytoplasmic determinants and inductive signals: an insight from pattern development of aberrant sexual genotypes

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Abstract

In Drosophila melanogaster, sexual adaptation shapes the chromosomal level genome organization, by which an embryo with the X:A ratio 0.5 develop into a male and an embryo with the X:A ratio 1.0, develop into the female. During early embryogenesis, the sex chromosomal dimorphism, set irreversibly the transcriptional activity of Sex lethal (Sxl), that triggers the cascades of sex specific alternative mRNA splicing events of doublesex (dsx+) mRNA to determine sex specific transcription factors, DSXM and DSXF, for execution of the somatic sexual phenotypes. Sex specific DSX proteins, also play roles in sculpting sexually dimorphic brain and CNS, for sex specific behaviour. Notwithstanding these basic understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying sex determination in Drosophila, it remains largely unknown how DSX proteins contribute in sculpting sexually dimorphic morphologies and behaviour. An insight from pattern development of aberrant sexual genotypes is reviewed to elucidate somatic sexual differentiation. The nature of developmental defects of aberrant sexual genotypes clearly reveal that sex specific genetic systems use a combination of mosaic and regulative mechanisms to control sexual dimorphic developmental programs epigenetically. A model is proposed here to show that how inductive signals by endocrine pathways coordinate sex specific development and differentiation in Drosophila.

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Acknowledgements

The author is grateful to the authorities of the University of Calcutta, and the Department of Zoology for providing facilities, and to the UGC, New Delhi for the grant of Emeritus Fellowship.

Funding

This work was partially supported by UGC Emeritus Fellowship [Sanction no. F. 6–6/2015–17/EMERITUS-2015–17-GEN-5478(SA-II) dt.21.09.2015] to RNC.

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    Rabindra Nath Chatterjee

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The corresponding author, RNC, devised the study, framed its draft, and critically revised the manuscript before final submission.

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Chatterjee, R.N. Sex determining systems of Drosophila control somatic sexual differentiation by cytoplasmic determinants and inductive signals: an insight from pattern development of aberrant sexual genotypes. Nucleus (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13237-023-00429-3

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