AUTHOR=Liu Yating , Yang Jinjian , Huo Zhijia , Wang Shaoli , Wu Qingjun , Zhou Xuguo , Xie Wen , Zhang Youjun 

TITLE=Characteristic and Functional Study of Intersex, a Gene Related to Female Fertility in Bemisia tabaci

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physiology

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2020.00055

DOI=10.3389/fphys.2020.00055

ISSN=1664-042X

ABSTRACT=<p>The <italic>intersex</italic> (<italic>ix</italic>) gene acts in concert with <italic>doublesex</italic> (<italic>dsx</italic>) at the end of the sex determination hierarchy to control somatic sexual differentiation in <italic>Drosophila melanogaster</italic>. Here, we report the <italic>Drosophila ix</italic> homolog in <italic>Bemisia tabaci</italic> (<italic>Btix</italic>) with differential splicing events. Four isoforms were found in <italic>B. tabaci</italic> adults, including two sex-specific transcripts (<italic>Btix</italic><sup><italic>F</italic></sup> and <italic>Btix</italic><sup><italic>M</italic></sup>). Knockdown of <italic>Btix</italic> had no measurable effects on female morphological phenotypes but reduced the expression of the <italic>vitellogenin</italic> gene and resulted in the production of significantly fewer eggs, a lower eclosion rate, and a shorter body size of female progeny in comparison with control females. These results increase our understanding of the genes underlying sex determination in <italic>B. tabaci</italic> and reveal a potential target for RNA interference-based pest management.</p>