m⁶A modification in sex determination of Drosophila melanogaster：a progress review

N⁶-methyladenosine (m⁶A) modification is the most abundant form of methylation modification in eukaryotic mRNA and plays an important role in mRNA splicing, degradation, and translation． m⁶A modification can affect the normal activities of cells and organisms, including sex determination． Previous works suggest that components of m⁶A methyltransferase (Writers) and m⁶A binding protein (Readers) participate in sex determination in Drosophila by regulating alternative splicing of Sxl mRNA; the absence of Writers and Readers component causes male characteristics on female Drosophila． m⁶A modification is found to affect gonad development and sex differentiation in chicken and flounder; this suggests that m⁶A modification regulation of sex determination are universal in nature． Further works may be needed to explore regulatory mechanism of m⁶A modification in sex determination．