|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
| Home Help Feedback Subscriptions Archive Search Table of Contents | ||||
Development, Vol 125, Issue 8 1501-1507, Copyright © 1998 by Company of Biologists
JOURNAL ARTICLES |
C SchuLtt, A Hilfiker and R Nothiger
Zoological Institute, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
In Drosophila, the gene Sex-lethal (Sxl) is required for female development. It controls sexual differentiation in the soma, dosage compensation and oogenesis. The continuous production of SXL proteins in XX animals is maintained by autoregulation and depends on virilizer (vir). This gene is required in somatic cells for the female-specific splicing of Sxl primary transcripts and for an unknown vital process in both sexes. In the soma, clones of XX cells lacking Sxl or vir are sexually transformed and form male structures; in the germline, XX cells mutant for Sxl extensively proliferate, but are unable to differentiate. We now studied the role of vir in the germline by generating germline chimeras. We found that XX germ cells mutant for vir, in contrast to cells mutant for Sxl, perform oogenesis. We show that the early production of SXL in undifferentiated germ cells is independent of vir while, later in oogenesis, expression of Sxl becomes dependent on vir. We conclude that the early SXL proteins are sufficient for the production of eggs whereas the later SXL proteins are dispensable for this process. However, vir must be active in the female germline to allow normal embryonic development because maternal products of vir are required for the early post-transcriptional regulation of Sxl in XX embryos and for a vital process in embryos of both sexes.
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  L. O. F. Penalva and L. Sanchez RNA Binding Protein Sex-Lethal (Sxl) and Control of Drosophila Sex Determination and Dosage Compensation Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev., September 1, 2003; 67(3): 343 - 359. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. Niessen, R. Schneiter, and R. Nothiger Molecular Identification of virilizer, a Gene Required for the Expression of the Sex-Determining Gene Sex-lethal in Drosophila melanogaster Genetics, February 1, 2001; 157(2): 679 - 688. [Abstract] [Full Text]
|
|
|
|
|
|
L. O. F. Penalva, M. F. Ruiz, A. Ortega, B. Granadino, L. Vicente, C. Segarra, J. Valcárcel, and L. Sánchez The Drosophila fl(2)d Gene, Required for Female-Specific Splicing of Sxl and tra Pre-mRNAs, Encodes a Novel Nuclear Protein With a HQ-Rich Domain Genetics, May 1, 2000; 155(1): 129 - 139. [Abstract] [Full Text]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 C Schutt and R Nothiger Structure, function and evolution of sex-determining systems in Dipteran insects Development, January 2, 2000; 127(4): 667 - 677. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 T. W. Cline, D. Z. Rudner, D. A. Barbash, M. Bell, and R. Vutien Inaugural Article: Functioning of the Drosophila integral U1/U2 protein Snf independent of U1 and U2 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles is revealed by snf+ gene dose effects PNAS, December 7, 1999; 96(25): 14451 - 14458. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D Bopp, C Schutt, J Puro, H Huang, and R Nothiger Recombination and disjunction in female germ cells of Drosophila depend on the germline activity of the gene sex-lethal Development, January 12, 1999; 126(24): 5785 - 5794. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. Erickson and T. Cline Key aspects of the primary sex determination mechanism are conserved across the genus Drosophila Development, January 8, 1998; 125(16): 3259 - 3268. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
