RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 <em>Nix</em> confers heritable sex-conversion in <em>Aedes aegypti</em> and <em>myo-sex</em> is needed for male flight
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 595371
DO 10.1101/595371
A1 Azadeh Aryan
A1 Michelle Anderson
A1 James K. Biedler
A1 Yumin Qi
A1 Justin M. Overcash
A1 Anastasia N. Naumenko
A1 Maria V. Sharakhova
A1 Chunhong Mao
A1 Zach N. Adelman
A1 Zhijian Tu
YR 2019
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/04/01/595371.abstract
AB A dominant and hemizygous male-determining locus (M locus) establishes the male sex (M/m) in the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti. Nix is a male-determining factor (M factor) in the M locus and its transient expression in females (m/m) results in partial masculinization. Here, we show that the Nix transgene alone was sufficient to convert females into fertile males, which continued to produce sex-converted progeny in subsequent generations. However, assisted mating with wild-type females was necessary, as the converted m/m males could not fly. Knockout of myo-sex, a myosin heavy chain gene and the only other protein-coding gene reported in the M locus, rendered wild-type males flightless. Thus, Nix alone converts female Ae. aegypti to fertile males and myo-sex is required for male flight. Only female Ae. aegypti mosquitoes bite and transmit disease-causing viruses. Nix-mediated female-to-male conversion is 100% penetrant and stable over many generations, indicating great potential for mosquito control.