Feedback Control of Sex Determination by Dosage Compensation Revealed Through Caenorhabditis elegans sdc-3 Mutations

INVESTIGATIONS

Feedback Control of Sex Determination by Dosage Compensation Revealed Through Caenorhabditis elegans sdc-3 Mutations

L. DeLong, J. D. Plenefisch, R. D. Klein and B. J. Meyer
Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, and Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 Present address: Boyer Center for Molecular Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06536.

In Caenorhabditis elegans, sex determination and dosage compensation are coordinately controlled through a group of genes that respond to the primary sex determination signal. Here we describe a new gene, sdc-3, that also controls these processes. In contrast to previously described genes, the sex determination and dosage compensation activities of sdc-3 are separately mutable, indicating that they function independently. Paradoxically, the sdc-3 null phenotype fails to reveal the role of sdc-3 in sex determination: sdc-3 null mutations that lack both activities disrupt dosage compensation but cause no overt sexual transformation. We demonstrate that the dosage compensation defect of sdc-3 null alleles suppresses their sex determination defect. This self-suppression phenomenon provides a striking example of how a disruption in dosage compensation can affect sexual fate. We propose that the suppression occurs via a feedback mechanism that acts at an early regulatory step in the sex determination pathway to promote proper sexual identity.

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				I. Carmi and B. J. Meyer The Primary Sex Determination Signal of Caenorhabditis elegans Genetics, July 1, 1999; 152(3): 999 - 1015. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				H. E. Dawes, D. S. Berlin, D. M. Lapidus, C. Nusbaum, T. L. Davis, and B. J. Meyer Dosage Compensation Proteins Targeted to X Chromosomes by a Determinant of Hermaphrodite Fate Science, June 11, 1999; 284(5421): 1800 - 1804. [Abstract] [Full Text]

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				The Phenotype of mes-2, mes-3, mes-4 and mes-6, Maternal-Effect Genes Required for Survival of the Germline in Caenorhabditis elegans, Is Sensitive to Chromosome Dosage Genetics, January 1, 1998; 148(1): 167 - 186.

				T. Davis and B. Meyer SDC-3 coordinates the assembly of a dosage compensation complex on the nematode X chromosome Development, January 3, 1997; 124(5): 1019 - 1031. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. D. Lieb, E. E. Capowski, P. Meneely, and B. J. Meyer DPY-26, a Link Between Dosage Compensation and Meiotic Chromosome Segregation in the Nematode Science, December 6, 1996; 274(5293): 1732 - 1736. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				P.-T. Chuang, J. D. Lieb, and B. J. Meyer Sex-Specific Assembly of a Dosage Compensation Complex on the Nematode X Chromosome Science, December 6, 1996; 274(5293): 1736 - 1739. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				R. L. Kelley and M. I. Kuroda Equality for X Chromosomes Science, December 8, 1995; 270(5242): 1607 - 1610. [Abstract] [PDF]

				D. Hsu, P. Chuang, and B. Meyer DPY-30, a nuclear protein essential early in embryogenesis for Caenorhabditis elegans dosage compensation Development, January 10, 1995; 121(10): 3323 - 3334. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S. Parkhurst and P. Meneely Sex determination and dosage compensation: lessons from flies and worms Science, May 13, 1994; 264(5161): 924 - 932. [Abstract] [PDF]