LncRNA Gene Coordinates Complementary Sex Determination in the Argentine Ant

Overview

Journal Sci Adv

Specialties Biology
Science

Date 2024 May 31

PMID 38820161

Authors

Qiaowei Pan

Hugo Darras

Laurent Keller

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Animals have evolved various sex determination systems. Here, we describe a newly found mechanism. A long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) transduces complementary sex determination (CSD) signal in the invasive Argentine ant. In this haplodiploid species, we identified a 5-kilobase hyper-polymorphic region underlying CSD: Heterozygous embryos become females, while homozygous and hemizygous embryos become males. Heterozygosity at the locus correlates with higher expression of , a gene that overlaps with the locus and specifies an lncRNA transcript. knockdown in heterozygotes leads to male development. Comparative analyses indicated that, in Hymenoptera, is an ancient yet rapidly evolving gene. This study reveals an lncRNA involved in genetic sex determination, alongside a previously unknown regulatory mechanism underlying sex determination based on complementarity among noncoding alleles.

Citing Articles

Heterozygosity at a conserved candidate sex determination locus is associated with female development in the clonal raider ant.

Lacy K, Lee J, Rozen-Gagnon K, Wang W, Carroll T, Kronauer D bioRxiv. 2025; .

PMID: 39975376 PMC: 11838215. DOI: 10.1101/2025.01.24.634795.

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