Davis T, Kurihara J, Yamamoto D
Yamamoto Behavior Genes Project, ERATO, Center for Conservation Research and Training, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 3050 Maile Way, Gilmore 408, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
Gene. 2000 Apr 4;246(1-2):143-9. doi: 10.1016/s0378-1119(00)00064-0.
There are several mechanisms for the determination of sex. Sexual behaviour is part of the sex-determination cascade, and in Drosophila melanogaster male courtship is controlled in part by the fruitless gene. As part of a study of sexual behaviour in Hawaiian Drosophila, we have cloned the neural sex-determination gene fru from the Hawaiian picture-wing species Drosophila heteroneura. The fru gene has at least seven exons covering a region of 18kb and encodes three transcripts, fruA, fruB and fruC. Each transcript encodes a single ORF of 841, 678 and 691aa, respectively. The FRUA and FRUB proteins have a BTB protein-protein-binding domain and two zinc finger-like domains and are well conserved with the D. melanogaster proteins. The FRUC protein has a BTB domain but no zinc finger-like domains. The fru gene is expressed in 1-7 day old adult males as a 5.1kb transcript. This transcript is not seen in adult females, so the fru gene has a different pattern of sex-differential expression in the Hawaiian Drosophila compared with D. melanogaster.
性别决定存在多种机制。性行为是性别决定级联反应的一部分，在黑腹果蝇中，雄性求偶行为部分受无果基因控制。作为对夏威夷果蝇性行为研究的一部分，我们从夏威夷的图像翅物种异黑腹果蝇中克隆了神经性别决定基因fru。fru基因至少有七个外显子，覆盖18kb的区域，编码三种转录本，即fruA、fruB和fruC。每个转录本分别编码一个841、678和691个氨基酸的单一开放阅读框。FRUA和FRUB蛋白具有一个BTB蛋白-蛋白结合结构域和两个锌指样结构域，并且与黑腹果蝇的蛋白高度保守。FRUC蛋白具有一个BTB结构域，但没有锌指样结构域。fru基因在1至7日龄的成年雄性果蝇中作为一个5.1kb的转录本表达。在成年雌性果蝇中未观察到这种转录本，因此与黑腹果蝇相比，fru基因在夏威夷果蝇中具有不同的性别差异表达模式。
