Genetic control of sex determination in the germ line of Caenorhabditis elegans.
The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans normally exists as one of two sexes: self-fertilizing hermaphrodite or male. Development as hermaphrodite or male requires the differentiation of each tissue in a sex-specific way. In this review, I discuss the genetic control of sex determination in a single tissue of C. elegans: the germ line. Sex determination in the germ line depends on the action of two types of genes:--those that act globally in all tissues to direct male or female development and those that act only in the germ line to specify either spermatogenesis or oogenesis. First, I consider a tissue-specific sex-determining gene, fog-1, which promotes spermatogenesis in the germ line. Second, I consider the regulation of the hermaphrodite pattern of germ-line gametogenesis where first sperm and then oocytes are produced.
Kimble
J
J
Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Graduate School, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison 53706.
D000818:Animals; D002107:Caenorhabditis / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D012734:Disorders of Sex Development; D005260:Female; D005854:Germ Cells / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009154:Mutation; D009866:Oogenesis; D010641:Phenotype; D012732:Sex Determination Analysis; D013091:Spermatogenesis