Nakanishi Kazuko, Hoshino Mayu, Nakai Madoka, Kunimi Yasuhisa
Department of Biointeraction and Bioregulation, Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Saiwai, Fuchu, Tokyo, Japan.
Proc Biol Sci. 2008 Jun 7;275(1640):1249-54. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2008.0013.
Maternally inherited female-biased sex ratios have been documented in many invertebrate species. One cause of such biased sex ratios is male killing, i.e. only males die. In most species, male killing occurs during embryonic stages (early male killing) and is associated with cytoplasmic bacteria, including Wolbachia, Spiroplasma, Rickettsia, Flavobacteria and gamma proteobacteria. However, the oriental tea tortrix, Homona magnanima, is one of the few species in which male death occurs in the larval or pupal stage, and is thus an example of late male killing. We partially purified the agent causing late male killing in H. magnanima and showed that it consists of two RNA sequences. This represents an entirely novel agent causing late male killing.
在许多无脊椎动物物种中都记录到了母系遗传的雌性偏向性性别比例。这种偏向性性别比例的一个原因是雄性致死，即只有雄性死亡。在大多数物种中，雄性致死发生在胚胎阶段（早期雄性致死），并且与包括沃尔巴克氏体、螺原体、立克次氏体、黄杆菌和γ-变形菌在内的细胞质细菌有关。然而，茶小卷叶蛾是少数雄性在幼虫或蛹期死亡的物种之一，因此是晚期雄性致死的一个例子。我们对导致茶小卷叶蛾晚期雄性致死的因子进行了部分纯化，并表明它由两个RNA序列组成。这代表了一种全新的导致晚期雄性致死的因子。
