EVIDENCE FROM MOSAIC ANALYSIS OF THE MASCULINIZING GENE HER-1 FOR CELL-INTERACTIONS IN C-ELEGANS SEX DETERMINATION

SEX in Caenorhabditis elegans is determined by a regulatory cascade of seven interacting autosomal genes controlled by three X-linked genes in response to the X chromosome-to-autosome (X/A) ratio 1,2. XX animals (high X/A) develop as self-fertile hermaphrodites, and XO animals (low X/A) develop as males. The activity of the first gene in the sex-determining cascade, her-1, is required for male sexual development 3. XO her-1 loss-of-function mutants develop as self-fertile hermaphrodites, whereas XX her-1 gain-of-function mutants develop as masculinized intersexes 4. By genetic mosaic analysis using a fused free duplication linking her-1 to a cell-autonomous marker gene, we show here that her-1 expression in a sexually dimorphic cell is neither necessary nor sufficient for that cell to adopt a male fate. Our results suggest that her-1 is expressed in many, possibly all, cells and that its gene product can function non-autonomously through cell interactions to determine male sexual development.