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Originally published as Genetics Published Articles Ahead of Print on October 18, 2007.
Genetics, Vol. 177, 1639-1654, November 2007, Copyright © 2007
doi:10.1534/genetics.107.078071
Revisiting the X:A Signal That Specifies Caenorhabditis elegans Sexual Fate
John M. Gladden, Behnom Farboud and Barbara J. Meyer1
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-3204
1 Corresponding author: Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 16 Barker Hall, MC 3204, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3204.
E-mail: bjmeyer{at}berkeley.edu
In Caenorhabditis elegans, sex is determined by the opposing actions of X-signal elements (XSEs) and autosomal signal elements (ASEs), which communicate the ratio of X chromosomes to sets of autosomes (X:A signal). This study delves more deeply into the mechanism by which XSEs transmit X chromosome dose. We determined the relative contributions of individual XSEs to the X:A signal and showed the order of XSE strength to be sex-1 > sex-2 > fox-1 > ceh-39 
region 1 XSE. sex-1 exerts a more potent influence on sex determination and dosage compensation than any other XSE by functioning in two separate capacities in the pathway: sex-1 acts upstream as an XSE to repress xol-1 and downstream as an activator of hermaphrodite development and dosage compensation. Furthermore, the process of dosage compensation affects expression of the very XSEs that control it; XSEs become fully dosage compensated once sex is determined. The X:A signal is then equivalent between XO and XX animals, causing sexual differentiation to be controlled by genes downstream of xol-1 in the sex-determination pathway. Prior to the onset of dosage compensation, the difference in XSE expression between XX and XO embryos appears to be greater than twofold, making X chromosome counting a robust process.
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  J. M. Gladden and B. J. Meyer A ONECUT Homeodomain Protein Communicates X Chromosome Dose to Specify Caenorhabditis elegans Sexual Fate by Repressing a Sex Switch Gene Genetics, November 1, 2007; 177(3): 1621 - 1637. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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