Skip to main content
PMC home page
The EMBO Journal logoLink to The EMBO Journal
. 1991 Jan;10(1):171–176. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1991.tb07933.x

Molecular analysis of tra-2, a sex determining gene in C.elegans.

P G Okkema 1, J Kimble 1
PMCID: PMC452626  PMID: 1703488

Abstract

We have cloned the Caenorhabditis elegans sex determining gene, tra-2, by transposon tagging. The tra-2 region is delineated by mapping Southern blot differences associated with 11 tra-2 mutations, mutant rescue, and analysis of tra-2 RNAs. The tra-2 gene encodes three transcripts. One transcript, a 1.8 kb RNA, is not detected in animals lacking a germ line, and therefore may be germline specific. Comparison of the two sexes shows that adult hermaphrodites have approximately 15-fold more tra-2 RNA than adult males. In addition, adult hermaphrodites contain 5 kb and 1.8 kb tra-2 RNAs whereas adult males possess 5 kb and 1.9 kb RNAs. A 1.9 kb tra-2 RNA is also found during hermaphrodite larval development, prior to sexual differentiation of the XX germ line. Surprisingly, analysis of tra-2 expression in selected sex determination mutants reveals that the sex specificity of tra-2 RNAs is not dictated by the pathway of sex determination that has been established by genetic experiments. This result can be interpreted in two ways. Either the sex specificity of the tra-2 RNAs is irrelevant to regulation of the sexual phenotype, which seems unlikely, or there is additional complexity within the hierarchy of sex determining genes, such as feedback regulation, which ensures that the tra-2 product corresponds to phenotypic sex.

Full text

PDF
171

Images in this article

172Image
on p.172
172Image
on p.172
173Image
on p.173
174Image
on p.174
174Image
on p.174

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Austin J., Kimble J. Transcript analysis of glp-1 and lin-12, homologous genes required for cell interactions during development of C. elegans. Cell. 1989 Aug 11;58(3):565–571. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90437-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Austin J., Kimble J. Transcript analysis of glp-1 and lin-12, homologous genes required for cell interactions during development of C. elegans. Cell. 1989 Aug 11;58(3):565–571. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90437-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Austin J., Kimble J. glp-1 is required in the germ line for regulation of the decision between mitosis and meiosis in C. elegans. Cell. 1987 Nov 20;51(4):589–599. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90128-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Austin J., Kimble J. glp-1 is required in the germ line for regulation of the decision between mitosis and meiosis in C. elegans. Cell. 1987 Nov 20;51(4):589–599. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90128-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Bell L. R., Maine E. M., Schedl P., Cline T. W. Sex-lethal, a Drosophila sex determination switch gene, exhibits sex-specific RNA splicing and sequence similarity to RNA binding proteins. Cell. 1988 Dec 23;55(6):1037–1046. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90248-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Boggs R. T., Gregor P., Idriss S., Belote J. M., McKeown M. Regulation of sexual differentiation in D. melanogaster via alternative splicing of RNA from the transformer gene. Cell. 1987 Aug 28;50(5):739–747. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90332-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Doniach T. Activity of the sex-determining gene tra-2 is modulated to allow spermatogenesis in the C. elegans hermaphrodite. Genetics. 1986 Sep;114(1):53–76. doi: 10.1093/genetics/114.1.53. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Doniach T., Hodgkin J. A sex-determining gene, fem-1, required for both male and hermaphrodite development in Caenorhabditis elegans. Dev Biol. 1984 Nov;106(1):223–235. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(84)90077-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Eide D., Anderson P. The gene structures of spontaneous mutations affecting a Caenorhabditis elegans myosin heavy chain gene. Genetics. 1985 Jan;109(1):67–79. doi: 10.1093/genetics/109.1.67. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Eide D., Anderson P. Transposition of Tc1 in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1985 Mar;82(6):1756–1760. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.6.1756. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Emmons S. W., Yesner L. High-frequency excision of transposable element Tc 1 in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is limited to somatic cells. Cell. 1984 Mar;36(3):599–605. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90339-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Emmons S. W., Yesner L., Ruan K. S., Katzenberg D. Evidence for a transposon in Caenorhabditis elegans. Cell. 1983 Jan;32(1):55–65. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90496-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Hodgkin J. A., Brenner S. Mutations causing transformation of sexual phenotype in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics. 1977 Jun;86(2 Pt 1):275–287. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Hodgkin J., Horvitz H. R., Brenner S. Nondisjunction Mutants of the Nematode CAENORHABDITIS ELEGANS. Genetics. 1979 Jan;91(1):67–94. doi: 10.1093/genetics/91.1.67. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Hodgkin J. More sex-determination mutants of Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics. 1980 Nov;96(3):649–664. doi: 10.1093/genetics/96.3.649. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Hodgkin J. Sex determination compared in Drosophila and Caenorhabditis. Nature. 1990 Apr 19;344(6268):721–728. doi: 10.1038/344721a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Hodgkin J. Sex determination in the nematode C. elegans: analysis of tra-3 suppressors and characterization of fem genes. Genetics. 1986 Sep;114(1):15–52. doi: 10.1093/genetics/114.1.15. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Kimble J. Genetic control of sex determination in the germ line of Caenorhabditis elegans. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1988 Dec 1;322(1208):11–18. doi: 10.1098/rstb.1988.0110. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Klass M., Wolf N., Hirsh D. Development of the male reproductive system and sexual transformation in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Dev Biol. 1976 Aug;52(1):1–18. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(76)90002-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Melton D. A., Krieg P. A., Rebagliati M. R., Maniatis T., Zinn K., Green M. R. Efficient in vitro synthesis of biologically active RNA and RNA hybridization probes from plasmids containing a bacteriophage SP6 promoter. Nucleic Acids Res. 1984 Sep 25;12(18):7035–7056. doi: 10.1093/nar/12.18.7035. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Miller D. M., Stockdale F. E., Karn J. Immunological identification of the genes encoding the four myosin heavy chain isoforms of Caenorhabditis elegans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 Apr;83(8):2305–2309. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.8.2305. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Moerman D. G., Waterston R. H. Spontaneous unstable unc-22 IV mutations in C. elegans var. Bergerac. Genetics. 1984 Dec;108(4):859–877. doi: 10.1093/genetics/108.4.859. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Rimm D. L., Horness D., Kucera J., Blattner F. R. Construction of coliphage lambda Charon vectors with BamHI cloning sites. Gene. 1980 Dec;12(3-4):301–309. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(80)90113-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Rosenquist T. A., Kimble J. Molecular cloning and transcript analysis of fem-3, a sex-determination gene in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genes Dev. 1988 May;2(5):606–616. doi: 10.1101/gad.2.5.606. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Rosenthal E. T., Ruderman J. V. Widespread changes in the translation and adenylation of maternal messenger RNAs following fertilization of Spisula oocytes. Dev Biol. 1987 May;121(1):237–246. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(87)90155-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Schedl T., Kimble J. fog-2, a germ-line-specific sex determination gene required for hermaphrodite spermatogenesis in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics. 1988 May;119(1):43–61. doi: 10.1093/genetics/119.1.43. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Sulston J. E., Horvitz H. R. Post-embryonic cell lineages of the nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans. Dev Biol. 1977 Mar;56(1):110–156. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(77)90158-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Villeneuve A. M., Meyer B. J. The regulatory hierarchy controlling sex determination and dosage compensation in Caenorhabditis elegans. Adv Genet. 1990;27:117–188. doi: 10.1016/s0065-2660(08)60025-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Vournakis J. N., Efstratiadis A., Kafatos F. C. Electrophoretic patterns of deadenylylated chorion and globin mRNAs. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1975 Aug;72(8):2959–2963. doi: 10.1073/pnas.72.8.2959. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The EMBO Journal are provided here courtesy of Nature Publishing Group

RESOURCES