Chen, J., Tu, W., Li, Z., Ma, M., Jiang, S., Guan, W., Wang, R., Pan, Y., Peng, Q. (2025). Diverse functions of sex determination gene doublesex on sexually dimorphic neuronal development and behaviors.  J. Genet. Genomics 52(10): 1199--1210.

FBrf0263634

Research paper

Sex-specific neurons play pivotal roles in regulating sexually dimorphic behaviors. In insects, the sex determination gene doublesex (dsx) establishes major sexual dimorphism of the nervous system, in which male-specific dsx[M] promotes neuronal development, while female-specific dsx[F] inhibits neuronal development by promoting neuronal apoptosis. In this study, we find that dsx regulates the number of dsx-expressing central neurons in Drosophila in cell-specific manners. Although dsx[M] overall promotes an increase in the number of dsx neurons, it inhibits the emergence of specific pC1 neurons. dsx[F] reduces the number of different pC1/pC2 subtypes, but promotes the formation of pC1d. We also find that dsx[M] and dsx[F] barely affect the number of some pC2 neurons. Changes in the number of pC1/pC2 neurons alter their roles in regulating different behaviors, including courtship, aggression, and locomotion. Our results illustrate the multifaceted functions of dsx in sexually dimorphic neuronal development and behaviors.