2009 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Studies on the effects of Wolbachia endosymbiont on sex determination of lepidopteran insects
| Project/Area Number |
19780046
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Research Field |
Applied entomology
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| Research Institution | National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences |
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Principal Investigator |
KAGEYAMA Daisuke National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, 昆虫・微生物間相互作用研究ユニット, 任期付研究員 (60401212)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2007 – 2009
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| Keywords | 性決定 / 性転換 / 移植 / Wolbachia / 昆虫 / dsx / キチョウ / 共生微生物 |
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| Research Abstract |
In a butterfly Eurema mandarina, Wolbachia endosymbiont is known to feminize genetic males into functional females. Here I succeeded in maintaining Wolbachia in a cell culture of the silkworm Bombyx mori. Wolbachia was shown to proliferate sufficiently in the living body of B. mori but no Wolbachia was found to be transmitted to the offspring. Further, Wolbachia was found to alter the splicing of a sex determining gene of E. mandarina from male pattern to female pattern. It was clearly shown that continuous effect of Wolbachia on sex determining gene (s) during larval development is necessary for complete feminization of the butterfly.
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