Molecular cloning of the sex-related gene PSI in Bemisia tabaci and its alternative splicing properties

• Cloned and characterized a PSI ortholog in B. tabaci.
• Quantified the mRNA expression profiles of BtPSI in B. tabaci developmental stages.
• Analyzed the alternative splicing pattern of BtPSI in female/male B. tabaci, and found multiple BtPSI isoforms that are spliced in sex-specific manner.

The P-element somatic inhibitor (PSI) is gene known to regulate the transcription of doublesex (dsx) when transformer (tra) is absent in Bombyx mori. In this study, we identified and characterized a PSI homolog in Bemisia tabaci (BtPSI). BtPSI cDNA had a total length of 5700 bp and contained a predicted open reading frame (ORF) of 2208 nucleotides encoding for 735 amino acids. Multiple sequence alignments of the common regions of PSI proteins from B. tabaci and five other insect species revealed a high degree of sequence conservation. BtPSI is expressed in all stages of B. tabaci development, and expression did not significantly differ between female and male adult. A total of 92 BtPSI isoforms (78 in female and 22 in male) were identified, and a marker indicating the female-specific form was found. These results increase the understanding of genes that may determine sex in B. tabaci and provide a foundation for research on the sex determination mechanism in this insect.