ArticleNature2014
A single female-specific piRNA is the primary determiner of sex in the silkworm.
Article in Nature, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 256 papers.
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256 citing papers in PubMed, 530 citations in OpenAlex.
- The complete sequence of the silkworm W chromosome uncovers its rapid evolution by large-scale duplications/deletions and translocation of W-linked genes.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2026Article
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- Gametocyte-Specific Factor 1 Is Essential for Male Fertility and Transposon Homeostasis inInsects · 2026Article
- fmd/fmd2/DHX16-dsx cascade in sex determination of one Hemiptera species, Laodelphax striatellus.Insect science · 2026Article
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- Environmental sex determination in the cyst nematode Globodera pallida defaults to male development.BMC biology · 2026Article
- Sex Determination in Sponges.Molecular reproduction and development · 2026Review
- Effects of expressing a maleness gene in Anopheles gambiae cells using baculovirus as a gene delivery tool.Parasites & vectors · 2026Article
- Conserved but mechanistically diverse piRNA defence against endogenous retroviruses in insects.EMBO reports · 2026Article
- Molecular mechanisms of sex determination in Lepidoptera: current status and perspectives.Insect science · 2026Review
- Recurrent sex chromosome turnover mediated by distinct ARR17 and PISTILLATA duplications in willows.Genome biology · 2026Article
- From Adam's rib: the Siberian moth's female W chromosome is derived from its Z counterpart.Molecular biology and evolution · 2026Article
- CRISPR-Mediated Silkworm: The Oncoming Agricultural Revolutions and a Rising Model Organism.Genes · 2026Review
- Genome assembly and protein structure modeling reveal key molecular features of divergentMicrobiology spectrum · 2026Article
- piRAT: piRNA Annotation Tool for annotating, analyzing, and visualizing piRNAs.BMC bioinformatics · 2026Article
- Deep evolutionary conservation of a sex-determining locus without sequence homology.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Whole-body RNA Sequencing Analysis of the Post-larval Reveals the Sex-biased Gene and MiRNA in the Prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii.Marine biotechnology (New York, N.Y.) · 2026Article
- Complete transition from chromosomal to cytoplasmic sex determination during prolonged Wolbachia symbiosis.Nature communications · 2026Article
- piR-bmo-796514 facilitates the proliferation of exogenous DNA virus (baculovirus) by targeting the host E3 ubiquitin ligase RNF181.PLoS pathogens · 2026Article
- Direct RNA Sequencing Reveals Sex-Biased Transcriptomic and Epitranscriptomic Regulation inBiology · 2025Article
196 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The silkworm Bombyx mori uses a WZ sex determination system that is analogous to the one found in birds and some reptiles. In this system, males have two Z sex chromosomes, whereas females have Z and W sex chromosomes. The silkworm W chromosome has a dominant role in female determination, suggesting the existence of a dominant feminizing gene in this chromosome. However, the W chromosome is almost fully occupied by transposable element sequences, and no functional protein-coding gene has been identified so far. Female-enriched PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) are the only known transcripts that are produced from the sex-determining region of the W chromosome, but the function(s) of these piRNAs are unknown. Here we show that a W-chromosome-derived, female-specific piRNA is the feminizing factor of B. mori. This piRNA is produced from a piRNA precursor which we named Fem. Fem sequences were arranged in tandem in the sex-determining region of the W chromosome. Inhibition of Fem-derived piRNA-mediated signalling in female embryos led to the production of the male-specific splice variants of B. mori doublesex (Bmdsx), a gene which acts at the downstream end of the sex differentiation cascade. A target gene of Fem-derived piRNA was identified on the Z chromosome of B. mori. This gene, which we named Masc, encoded a CCCH-type zinc finger protein. We show that the silencing of Masc messenger RNA by Fem piRNA is required for the production of female-specific isoforms of Bmdsx in female embryos, and that Masc protein controls both dosage compensation and masculinization in male embryos. Our study characterizes a single small RNA that is responsible for primary sex determination in the WZ sex determination system.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.