Myc sustains Regional and Sexually Dimorphic Lipid Homeostasis in the Drosophila Intestine

Whether and why such organ zonation differs between the sexes remains to be explored, despite increasing interest in documenting and functionally interrogating sex differences in physiology. Here, we use the intestine of adult Drosophila to explore mechanisms of adult organ zonation.

Through metabolic profiling, we uncover sex and regional differences in intestinal lipid metabolism. Cell type- and adult-specific genetic manipulations reveal a role for the Myc transcription factor in establishing sex-biased and regional intestinal lipid profiles. myc is repressed in male enterocytes by the sex determinant Doublesex, rendering Myc expression female-biased. Genetic gain- and loss-of-function experiments indicate that this Dsx-Myc antagonism in enterocytes underlies the sexually dimorphic and regional intestinal lipid profiles.