Figure 6
Anterior morphological phenotypes of Gcdsx RNAi individuals.
(A) Negative control DsRed RNAi female. No male weapon traits (large mandibles, genae and a pair of small horn) are expressed. (B) Negative control DsRed RNAi male whose weapon traits (large mandibles, genae and a pair of small horns) were normally expressed the same as wild type. (C) Gcdsx exon1 and exon2 knockdown female. The mandibles became slightly larger (light blue arrowhead) and a pair of genae show significant growth (white arrowhead) compared to the control. Also, a pair of small horns was apparent between the eyes (white dashed line). (D) Gcdsx exon1 and exon2 knockdown male. Compared to control DsRed RNAi males, mandibles became smaller (light blue arrowhead) and the size of genae (white arrowhead) and head horns (white dashed line) was decreased. Both sexes treated with Gcdsx (exon1, 2) RNAi showed a similar intersexual phenotype. (E,F) Gcdsx exon4 RNAi (i.e. GcDsx-FS specific knockdown) females and males did not show any altered morphologies. (G,H) Gcdsx exon5 RNAi (i.e. both GcDsx-FS and GcDsx-FL specific knockdown) female and male. Female morphology changed to an intersexual phenotype that is characterized by slightly enlarged mandibles (light blue arrowhead), enlarged genae (white arrowhead) and a pair of horn bumps (white dashed line), while males were not affected. (I,J) Gcdsx exon8 RNAi (i.e. GcDsx-C specific knockdown) female and male. No changes in morphologies. Scale bars indicate 250 μm.
