Article
Neurosciences
Artyom Kopp, Olga Barmina
Summary: Drosophila males use leg gustatory bristles to distinguish between male and female cuticular pheromones, which plays a crucial role in courtship behavior. Different Drosophila species have varying numbers and locations of sex-specific gustatory bristles, influencing sexual dimorphism and the evolution of mating behavior.
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Cell Biology
Peiwei Chen, Alexei A. Kotov, Baira K. Godneeva, Sergei S. Bazylev, Ludmila Olenina, Alexei A. Aravin
Summary: Small noncoding piRNAs guide repression of complementary targets in Metazoa. Previous studies in fruit fly ovaries have shown the function of the piRNA pathway in transposon silencing and genome defense. In fruit fly testes, piRNA programs exhibit sexual dimorphism and are used differently between sexes to combat sex-specific transposon landscapes.
GENES & DEVELOPMENT
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Meghan L. Ruebel, Sarah J. Borengasser, Ying Zhong, Ping Kang, Jennifer Faske, Kartik Shankar
Summary: The effects of exercise during pregnancy on the placenta and offspring are sexually dimorphic, with male placentas showing down-regulation of transcripts related to lipid and steroid metabolism, while female placentas showing activation of pathways and gene expression related to muscle growth, brain development, vascular development, and growth factors.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Crystal M. Vincent, Marc S. Dionne
Summary: Male and female animals show differences in infection outcomes, with potential sources of sexually dimorphic immunity being the sex-specific costs of immune activity or pathology. This study found that males and females exhibit differential immune activity but similar bacteria-derived metabolic pathology, with females having a female-specific immune-inducible expression of PGRP-LB which plays a critical role in reducing immune activity in response to bacterial reductions.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Luz Marina Sanchez-Mendoza, Carlos Perez-Sanchez, Sandra Rodriguez-Lopez, Chary Lopez-Pedrera, Miguel Calvo-Rubio, Rafael de Cabo, Maria I. Buron, Jose A. Gonzalez-Reyes, Jose M. Villalba
Summary: The study investigates the effect of sex on metabolic adaptations induced by overexpression of CYB5R3 and the modulation of key markers related to mitochondrial function in skeletal muscle. It was found that CYB5R3 overexpression leads to enhanced mitochondrial biogenesis and function, as well as increased mitochondrial abundance in skeletal muscle. These beneficial actions are predominantly observed in females, with differences in NADH levels and the abundance of cytochrome c and DRP-1. The results also show ultrastructural changes in transgenic females, including an increase in the number and size of mitochondria.
FREE RADICAL BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Thea F. Rogers, Daniela H. Palmer, Alison E. Wright
Summary: Research shows that sex-specific patterns of splicing are correlated with phenotypic sex differences and may offer an important route to sex-specific adaptation. Understanding the role of gene regulation in males and females is crucial for the evolution of phenotypic sexual dimorphism.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Rezlene Bargui, Audrey Solgadi, Florent Dumont, Bastien Prost, Nathalie Vadrot, Anne Filipe, Andrew T. V. Ho, Ana Ferreiro, Maryline Moulin
Summary: Growing evidence suggests that the lipid bilayer plays a critical role in membrane interactions and signal transduction. However, the study of phospholipids in skeletal muscles is limited, despite their association with muscular diseases. In this study, we used mass spectrometry to analyze the phospholipid profiles in the diaphragm of wild type and SelenoN knock-out mice. We found significant differences in phospholipid composition between male and female mice, as well as age-related differences. The absence of SELENON protein resulted in a remodeling of phospholipid content, with distinct patterns observed in males and females. These findings provide insights into the role of phospholipids in muscular diseases and aging.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Daria Bedulina, Polina Drozdova, Anton Gurkov, Martin von Bergen, Peter F. Stadler, Till Luckenbach, Maxim Timofeyev, Stefan Kalkhof
Summary: Lake Baikal is the largest source of liquid freshwater on Earth, home to unique fauna. This study revealed differences in responses to heat stress between male and female amphipods, with females unable to increase heat shock protein synthesis like males, potentially due to sex-specific biological processes requiring more energy.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Caihong Han, Qionglin Peng, Mengshi Sun, Xinyu Jiang, Xiangbin Su, Jiangtao Chen, Mingze Ma, Huan Zhu, Xiaoxiao Ji, Yufeng Pan
Summary: Most animal species exhibit dimorphic sexual behaviors, with males showing higher levels of aggression. Current models have focused on the male-specific product of the fruitless gene, fruM, which controls male courtship and male-specific aggression patterns in fruit flies and describes a male-specific mechanism underlying sexually dimorphic behaviors. This study demonstrates that the doublesex gene (dsx), which produces male-specific DsxM and female-specific DsxF transcription factors, also plays a role in the nervous system to control both male and female sexual and aggressive behaviors.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Review
Cell Biology
Alexander W. Shingleton, Isabelle M. Vea
Summary: Adult males and females of most species exhibit differences in morphology, physiology, and behavior in response to sex-specific selective pressures. While the genetic mechanisms initiating these differences are well understood, the developmental trajectories that generate them are still poorly understood. This review focuses on recent advances in understanding the regulation of sex-specific development, with a particular emphasis on two models: body size sexual dimorphism in Drosophila melanogaster and horn sexual dimorphism in Onthophagus taurus. The regulation of sex-specific metabolism during and after development is also an important aspect of generating male and female phenotypes, and recent research has revealed overlap in the mechanisms regulating both.
SEMINARS IN CELL & DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Meethila Gade, Nicole Comfort, Diane B. Re
Summary: The heavy metals lead, mercury, cadmium, manganese, and arsenic can have gender-specific neurotoxic effects, including cognitive and motor impairments. Males and females may respond differently to exposure to these metals and show variations in their susceptibility and vulnerabilities. The mechanisms behind gender-specific differential susceptibility to heavy metal neurotoxicity involve hormonal, genetic, metabolic, anatomical, neurochemical, and epigenetic factors.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jeanne Tonnabel, Etienne K. Klein, Ophelie Ronce, Sylvie Oddou-Muratorio, Francois Rousset, Isabelle Olivieri, Alexandre Courtiol, Agnes Mignot
Summary: The study investigates sexual dimorphism in plants, specifically in the dioecious wind-pollinated shrub Leucadendron rubrum, and suggests that sexual differences exist in selection of traits and effective fecundity. While males exhibit stronger spatial autocorrelation in effective fecundity at a smaller scale, higher plant density is associated with lower effective fecundity in males but not in females. Despite these sex-specific sensitivities to environmental heterogeneity, directional selection for certain traits is observed in both sexes without sexually antagonistic selection on strongly dimorphic traits.
Article
Ecology
Rachael Y. Dudaniec, Alexander R. Carey, Erik I. Svensson, Bengt Hansson, Chuan Ji Yong, Lesley T. Lancaster
Summary: Our study reveals that as the common bluetail damselfly population expands, male body size increases with latitude while female body size remains constant, resulting in reduced sexual dimorphism; there is a steep decline in male genetic similarity with increasing geographic distance, with a gradient in migration propensity and distance along latitudes; cooler mean temperatures are associated with increased resistance to gene flow, and sex ratios skew towards males at the expanding range front.
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
April L. Peterson, Bret A. Payseur
Summary: The study found that genetic variation in recombination rates differs between males and females in house mice. Male genome-wide recombination rates vary significantly among strains, while female recombination rates in the same strains are more stable. Additionally, high recombination rates in males are associated with stronger CO interference and more double-strand breaks.
Article
Neurosciences
Olakkaran Shilpa, Kizhakke Purayil Anupama, Anet Antony, Hunasanahally Puttaswamygowda Gurushankara
Summary: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by abnormal social interaction, communication impairments, and repetitive behaviors, potentially linked to genetics and environmental factors. Studies using Drosophila model suggest that exposure to lead (Pb) induces oxidative stress and ASD-like behaviors, highlighting the role of antioxidants in alleviating ASD symptoms.
MOLECULAR NEUROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Carl E. Hjelmen, Jonathan J. Parrott, Satyam P. Srivastav, Alexander S. McGuane, Lisa L. Ellis, Andrew D. Stewart, J. Spencer Johnston, Aaron M. Tarone
