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Development, Vol 121, Issue 9 2995-3004, Copyright © 1995 by Company of Biologists
JOURNAL ARTICLES |
PE Kuwabara and J Kimble
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Wisconsin, Madison 53706, USA.
The nematode C. elegans naturally develops as either an XO male or XX hermaphrodite. The sex-determining gene, tra-2, promotes hermaphrodite development in XX animals. This gene encodes a predicted membrane protein, named TRA-2A, which has been proposed to provide the primary feminising activity of the tra-2 locus. Here, we show that transgenic TRA-2A driven from a heat shock promoter can fully feminise the somatic tissues of XX tra-2 loss-of-function mutants, which would otherwise develop as male. TRA-2A is thus likely to provide a component of the tra-2 locus that is both necessary and sufficient to promote female somatic development. Transgenic TRA-2A driven by the heat shock promoter can also transform XO animals from male to self-fertile hermaphrodite. This result establishes the role of tra-2 as a developmental switch that controls somatic sexual cell fate. We show that a carboxy-terminal region of TRA-2A, predicted to be intra-cellular, can partially feminise XX tra-2 loss-of-function mutants and XO tra-2(+) males. We suggest that this intra-cellular domain of TRA-2A promotes hermaphrodite development by negatively regulating the FEM proteins.
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 D. H. Lum, P. E. Kuwabara, D. Zarkower, and A. M. Spence Direct protein-protein interaction between the intracellular domain of TRA-2 and the transcription factor TRA-1A modulates feminizing activity in C. elegans Genes & Dev., December 15, 2000; 14(24): 3153 - 3165. [Abstract] [Full Text]
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S. B. Sokol and P. E. Kuwabara Proteolysis in Caenorhabditis elegans sex determination: cleavage of TRA-2A by TRA-3 Genes & Dev., April 15, 2000; 14(8): 901 - 906. [Abstract] [Full Text]
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A. Mehra, J. Gaudet, L. Heck, P. E. Kuwabara, and A. M. Spence Negative regulation of male development in Caenorhabditis elegans by a protein-protein interaction between TRA-2A and FEM-3 Genes & Dev., June 1, 1999; 13(11): 1453 - 1463. [Abstract] [Full Text]
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D. Hansen and D. Pilgrim Molecular Evolution of a Sex Determination Protein: FEM-2 (PP2C) in Caenorhabditis Genetics, July 1, 1998; 149(3): 1353 - 1362. [Abstract] [Full Text]
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I D Chin-Sang and A M Spence Caenorhabditis elegans sex-determining protein FEM-2 is a protein phosphatase that promotes male development and interacts directly with FEM-3. Genes & Dev., September 15, 1996; 10(18): 2314 - 2325. [Abstract] [PDF]
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M. Hanazawa, M. Mochii, N. Ueno, Y. Kohara, and Y. Iino Use of cDNA subtraction and RNA interference screens in combination reveals genes required for germ-line development in Caenorhabditis elegans PNAS, July 17, 2001; 98(15): 8686 - 8691. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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