Transcriptome profiling and dimorphic expression of sex-related genes in fifth-instar nymphs of Sogatella furcifera, an important rice pest

Sogatella furcifera is an important rice pest. In order to understand the molecular basis of the sex determination in this pest, we performed de novo transcriptome sequencing of six cDNA libraries (three biological replicates) of female and male fifth-instar nymphs. Total 65,199 unigenes were obtained, with an average length of 971.5 bp and N50 length of 1708 bp. 20,287 open reading frames (ORFs) were predicted and annotated. Total 1019 differentially expressed genes with 873 upregulated and 146 downregulated were found in male compared to female. Total 164 sex-determining genes were identified, including the key sex-determining genes in fruit flies, such as Sxl, tra, dsx, etc. It implied that the sex determination mechanisms of S. furcifera may be the same as that of fruit flies. This study provided transcriptome resource as a fundamental support for future functional studies to elucidate the sex determination regulatory networks governing sexual dimorphism of S. furcifera.