Identification of hormone-dependent microRNA that regulates sexual development of insects

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K14892
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Insect science
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Suzuki Masataka 東京大学, 大学院新領域創成科学研究科, 准教授 (30360572)
• Research Collaborator: AOKI Fugaku ; KATAOKA Hiroshi ; MATSUNO Kumiko ; MATSUSHIMA Daijiro
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 性決定 / 性分化 / 性ホルモン / エクダイソン / microRNA / カイコ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

To investigate whether ecdysone is involved in sexual development of the silkworm in the sex-determining embryonic stage, we compared the amount of 20-hydroxyecdysone and expression levels of genes involved in ecdysone synthesis and ecdysone signaling between male and female embryos. Although these levels showed no sexual difference, knockdown of EPP-ase, which is required for ecdysone synthesis during embryonic stages, reduced expression level of Bmdsx in male and female embryos. In addition, knockdown of the ecdysone receptor gene EcR also caused decreased expression of Bmdsx in embryos. These results demonstrate that ecdysone signaling stimulates Bmdsx expression in the embryonic stages.

Free Research Field

分子昆虫学