Abstract
The fog-1 gene of Caenorhabditis elegans specifies that germ cells differentiate as sperm rather than as oocytes. We cloned fog-1 through a combination of transformation rescue experiments, RNA-mediated inactivation, and mutant analyses. Our results show that fog-1 produces two transcripts, both of which are found in germ cells but not in the soma. Furthermore, two deletion mutants alter these transcripts and are likely to eliminate fog-1 activity. The larger transcript is expressed under the control of sex-determination genes, is necessary for fog-1 activity, and is sufficient to rescue a fog-1 mutant. This transcript encodes a novel member of the CPEB family of RNA-binding proteins. Because CPEB proteins in Xenopus and Drosophila regulate gene expression at the level of translation, we propose that FOG-1 controls germ cell fates by regulating the translation of specific messenger RNAs.
Copyright 2001 Academic Press.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Amino Acid Sequence
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Animals
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Caenorhabditis elegans / physiology*
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Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins
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Carrier Proteins / chemistry
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Carrier Proteins / genetics*
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Carrier Proteins / metabolism*
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Cell Differentiation
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DNA Primers
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Drosophila melanogaster / genetics
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Female
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Genotype
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Germ Cells / cytology
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Germ Cells / physiology*
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Male
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Mice
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Molecular Sequence Data
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Mutagenesis
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Nuclear Proteins / chemistry
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Nuclear Proteins / genetics*
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Nuclear Proteins / metabolism*
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Oocytes / cytology*
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Phylogeny
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RNA-Binding Proteins / genetics
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RNA-Binding Proteins / metabolism
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Recombinant Proteins / metabolism
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Recombination, Genetic
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Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
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Sequence Alignment
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Sequence Deletion
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Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
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Sex Differentiation
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Spermatozoa / cytology*
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Transcription Factors
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Transcription, Genetic
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Xenopus laevis / genetics
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Zinc Fingers
Substances
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Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins
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Carrier Proteins
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DNA Primers
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Nuclear Proteins
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RNA-Binding Proteins
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Recombinant Proteins
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Transcription Factors
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Zfpm1 protein, mouse
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fog-1 protein, C elegans