John Yoder has just published a new paper looking at the interaction between dsx and Abd-B in sculpting the posterior abdominal segments in males vs females. The posterior abdomen is clearly sexually dimorphic, and in some respects the roles of dsxM and Abd-B in the abdomen are similar to the roles of dsxM and Scr in the sex comb. In particular, dsx expression is regulated by Abd-B. But there are also important differences – for example, Abd-B does not seem to be affected by Dsx. Check it out.
