ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2012
Diversification of doublesex function underlies morph-, sex-, and species-specific development of beetle horns.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 77 papers.
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Who cites it
77 citing papers in PubMed, 191 citations in OpenAlex.
- Private QTLs and the genetic architecture of hierarchical size traits: from body size to sex-specific plasticity.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2026Article
- Trait-specific chromatin architectures channel pleiotropic genes toward sexually dimorphic development in horned beetles.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Transcriptomic basis underlying the evolution of female horn plasticity in scarab beetles.Frontiers in zoology · 2026Article
- Developmental transcriptomics inGenome research · 2025Article
- High-resolution comparative single-cell transcriptomics ofbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- A development-centric perspective on pace-of-life syndromes.Evolution letters · 2025Article
- A Conserved Somatic Sex Determination Cascade Instructs Trait-Specific Sexual Dimorphism in Horned Dung Beetles.Evolution & development · 2025Article
- Testing for Differences in Metabolism Among Females and Dimorphic Males of Four Dung Beetle Species (Coloeoptera: Scarabaeinae).Integrative organismal biology (Oxford, England) · 2025Article
- Transcriptomic Evidence for Cell-Autonomous Sex Differentiation of the Gynandromorphic Fat Body in the Silkworm,Journal of developmental biology · 2024Article
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- Dedicated developmental programing for group-supporting behaviors in eusocial honeybees.Science advances · 2024Article
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- The Genetic Basis Underpinning Sexually Selected Traits across Different Animal Lineages: Are There Genetic Mechanisms in Common?Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Review
- Genome evolution and divergence in cis-regulatory architecture is associated with condition-responsive development in horned dung beetles.PLoS genetics · 2024Article
- Candidate target genes of the male-specific expressed Doublesex in the termite Reticulitermes speratus.PloS one · 2024Article
- Female semiochemicals stimulate male courtship but dampen female sexual receptivity.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023Article
- Transcriptomic and functional screening of weapon formation genes implies significance of cell adhesion molecules and female-biased genes in broad-horned flour beetle.PLoS genetics · 2023Article
- Gene regulatory networks underlying the development and evolution of plasticity in horned beetles.Current opinion in insect science · 2023Review
- Developmental genetic underpinnings of a symbiosis-associated organ in the fungus-farming ambrosia beetle Euwallacea validus.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- A Mediator subunit imparts robustness to a polyphenism decision.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023Article
17 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Sex-specific trait expression is frequently associated with highly variable, condition-dependent expression within sexes and rapid divergence among closely related species. Horned beetles are an excellent example for studying the molecular basis of these phenomena because horn morphology varies markedly among species, between sexes, and among alternative, nutritionally-cued morphs within sexes. In addition, horns lack obvious homology to other insect traits and provide a good opportunity to explore the molecular basis of the rapid diversification of a novel trait within and between species. Here we show that the sex-determination gene doublesex (dsx) underlies important aspects of horn development, including differences between sexes, morphs, and species. In male Onthophagus taurus, dsx transcripts were preferentially expressed in the horns of the large, horned morph, and RNAi-mediated knockdown of dsx dramatically altered male horn allometry by massively reducing horn development in large males, but not in smaller males. Conversely, dsx RNAi induced ectopic, nutrition-sensitive horn development in otherwise hornless females. Finally, in a closely related species (Onthophagus sagittarius) that has recently evolved a rare reversed sexual dimorphism, dsx RNAi revealed reversed as well as novel dsx functions despite an overall conservation of dsx expression. This suggests that rapid evolution of dsx functions has facilitated the transition from a regular sexual dimorphism to a reversed sexual dimorphism in this species. Our findings add beetle horns to existing examples of a close relationship between dsx and sexual trait development, and suggest that dsx function has been coopted to facilitate both the evolution of environmentally-cued intrasexual dimorphisms and rapid species divergences in a novel trait.
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