Abstract
Although the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans produces self-fertile hermaphrodites, it descended from a male/female species, so hermaphroditism provides a model for the origin of novel traits. In the related species C. remanei, which has only male and female sexes, lowering the activity of tra-2 by RNA interference created XX animals that made spermatids as well as oocytes, but their spermatids could not activate without the addition of male seminal fluid. However, by lowering the expression of both tra-2 and swm-1, a gene that regulates sperm activation in C. elegans, we produced XX animals with active sperm that were self-fertile. Thus, the evolution of hermaphroditism in Caenorhabditis probably required two steps: a mutation in the sex-determination pathway that caused XX spermatogenesis and a mutation that allowed these spermatids to self-activate.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1002-1005 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | Science |
| Volume | 326 |
| Issue number | 5955 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 13 2009 |
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All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
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Mutations in two independent pathways are sufficient to create hermaphroditic nematodes. / Baldi, Chris; Cho, Soochin; Ellis, Ronald E.
In: Science, Vol. 326, No. 5955, 13.11.2009, p. 1002-1005.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Mutations in two independent pathways are sufficient to create hermaphroditic nematodes
AU - Baldi, Chris
AU - Cho, Soochin
AU - Ellis, Ronald E.
PY - 2009/11/13
Y1 - 2009/11/13
N2 - Although the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans produces self-fertile hermaphrodites, it descended from a male/female species, so hermaphroditism provides a model for the origin of novel traits. In the related species C. remanei, which has only male and female sexes, lowering the activity of tra-2 by RNA interference created XX animals that made spermatids as well as oocytes, but their spermatids could not activate without the addition of male seminal fluid. However, by lowering the expression of both tra-2 and swm-1, a gene that regulates sperm activation in C. elegans, we produced XX animals with active sperm that were self-fertile. Thus, the evolution of hermaphroditism in Caenorhabditis probably required two steps: a mutation in the sex-determination pathway that caused XX spermatogenesis and a mutation that allowed these spermatids to self-activate.
AB - Although the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans produces self-fertile hermaphrodites, it descended from a male/female species, so hermaphroditism provides a model for the origin of novel traits. In the related species C. remanei, which has only male and female sexes, lowering the activity of tra-2 by RNA interference created XX animals that made spermatids as well as oocytes, but their spermatids could not activate without the addition of male seminal fluid. However, by lowering the expression of both tra-2 and swm-1, a gene that regulates sperm activation in C. elegans, we produced XX animals with active sperm that were self-fertile. Thus, the evolution of hermaphroditism in Caenorhabditis probably required two steps: a mutation in the sex-determination pathway that caused XX spermatogenesis and a mutation that allowed these spermatids to self-activate.
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U2 - 10.1126/science.1176013
DO - 10.1126/science.1176013
M3 - Article
VL - 326
SP - 1002
EP - 1005
JO - Science
JF - Science
SN - 0036-8075
IS - 5955
ER -