Transcriptome analysis of sex-biased gene expression in the spotted-wing Drosophila, Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura)

Sexual dimorphism occurs widely throughout insects and has profound influences on evolutionary path. Sex-biased genes are considered to account for most of phenotypic differences between sexes. In order to explore the sex-biased genes potentially associated with sexual dimorphism and sexual development in Drosophila suzukii, a major devastating and invasive crop pest, we conducted whole-organism transcriptome profiling and sex-biased gene expression analysis on adults of both sexes. We identified transcripts of genes involved in several sex-specific physiological and functional processes, including transcripts involved in sex determination, reproduction, olfaction, and innate immune signals. A total of 11,360 differentially expressed genes were identified in the comparison, and 1,957 differentially expressed genes were female-biased and 4,231 differentially expressed genes were male-biased. The pathway predominantly enriched for differentially expressed genes was related to spliceosome, which might reflect the differences in the alternative splicing mechanism between males and females. Twenty-two sex determination and 16 sex-related reproduction genes were identified, and expression pattern analysis revealed that the majority of genes were differentially expressed between sexes. Additionally, the differences in sex-specific olfactory and immune processes were analyzed and the sex-biased expression of these genes may play important roles in pheromone and odor detection, and immune response. As a valuable dataset, our sex-specific transcriptomic data can significantly contribute to the fundamental elucidation of the molecular mechanisms of sexual dimorphism in fruit flies, and may provide candidate genes potentially useful for the development of genetic sexing strains, an important tool for sterile insect technique applications against this economically important species.