Sphinx (gene)

In molecular biology, Sphinx (spx) is a long non-coding RNA found in Drosophila. It is expressed in the brain, within the antennal lobe and inner antennocerebral tract.^[1] It is involved in the regulation of male courtship behaviour, this may be via olfactory neuron mediated regulation. Sphinx may act as a negative regulator of target genes.^[1]^[2] It is a chimeric gene, originating from a retroposed sequence of the ATP synthase chain F gene from chromosome 2 to chromosome 4. Nearby sequences were recruited to form an intron and an exon of this chimeric gene.^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b Chen, Y.; Dai, H.; Chen, S.; Zhang, L.; Long, M. (2011). Kango-Singh, Madhuri (ed.). "Highly Tissue Specific Expression of Sphinx Supports Its Male Courtship Related Role in Drosophila melanogaster". PLOS ONE. 6 (4): e18853. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0018853. PMC 3082539. PMID 21541324.
^ Dai, H.; Chen, Y.; Chen, S.; Mao, Q.; Kennedy, D.; Landback, P.; Eyre-Walker, A.; Du, W.; Long, M. (2008). "The evolution of courtship behaviors through the origination of a new gene in Drosophila". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 105 (21): 7478–7483. doi:10.1073/pnas.0800693105. PMC 2396706. PMID 18508971.
^ Wang, W.; Brunet, F. G.; Nevo, E.; Long, M. (2002). "Origin of sphinx, a young chimeric RNA gene in Drosophilamelanogaster". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 99 (7): 4448–4453. doi:10.1073/pnas.072066399. PMC 123668. PMID 11904380.