Description
Sex determination is a fundamental developmental process, but the underlying genetic mechanisms are remarkably diverse. Sex determination in insects occurs by a cascade of hierarchically organized genes, consisting of a primary signal, transformer (tra) and doublesex (dsx). The cascade evolves from the bottom upwards with a large diversity and turnover of primary signals on top. Changes in sex determination pathways can occur via gene duplication, changes in gene function, shifts in gene hierarchies, and alterations of gene regulation. These processes lie at the basis of shifts between sex determination systems, such as male heterogamety, female heterogamety, monogeny, and haplodiploidy. The housefly, Musca domestica, is a good model species to study the evolution of sex determination mechanisms as it harbours different sex determination mechanisms, which can be used to unveil the structural genomic changes and gene regulation alterations involved. Such research will be instrumental for understanding the evolutionary dynamics of insect sex determination, but also has applied value, e.g. for improving insect mass rearing and pest control.| Periode | 16-apr.-2019 |
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| Evenementstitel | Netherlands Society for Evolutionary Biology Meeting 2019 |
| Evenementstype | Conference |
| Conferentienummer | 2 |
| Locatie | Ede, NetherlandsToon op kaart |
| Mate van erkenning | International |