@article {1148, title = {A molecular analysis of transformer, a gene in Drosophila that controls female sexual differentiation.}, journal = {Cell}, volume = {48}, year = {1987}, month = {1987 Feb}, pages = {489-99}, abstract = {

The transformer (tra) gene regulates all aspects of somatic sexual differentiation in Drosophila melanogaster females and has no function in males. We have isolated the tra gene as part of a 200 kb chromosomal walk. The 25 kb region around tra contains four genetically identified complementation groups and at least six transcriptional units. Germ-line transformation experiments indicate that a fragment of 2 kb is sufficient to supply tra+ function. Mapping of cDNAs from tra and from the adjacent genes indicates that the tra+ transcription unit is 1.2 kb or less. This transcription unit gives rise to a 1.0 kb RNA that is female-specific and a 1.2 kb RNA that is present in both sexes. tra+ and the gene at the 3{\textquoteright} side overlap slightly in the 3{\textquoteright} ends of their RNA coding sequences. These results suggest that tra+ function is regulated at the level of production of the female-specific tra RNA. The fact that a tra transcript is found in males raises interesting possibilities for how tra expression is controlled.

}, issn = {0092-8674}, author = {Baker, B.S. and McKeown, M. and Belote, J.M.} } @article {1147, title = {Sex-specific regulation of yolk protein gene expression in Drosophila.}, journal = {Cell}, volume = {40}, year = {1985}, month = {1985 Feb}, pages = {339-48}, abstract = {

Many of the genes in the regulatory hierarchy controlling sex determination in Drosophila melanogaster are known. Here we examine how this regulatory hierarchy controls the expression of the structural genes encoding the female-specific yolk polypeptides. Temperature shift experiments with a temperature-sensitive allele of the sex determination regulatory gene transformer-2 (tra-2) showed that tra-2+ function is required in the adult for both the sex-specific initiation and maintenance of YP synthesis. Control of the YP genes by this regulatory hierarchy is at the level of transcription, or transcript stability. The results of temperature shift experiments with abdomens isolated from tra-2ts homozygotes support the notion that the tra-2+ function acts in a cell-autonomous manner to control YP synthesis. These results provide a paradigm for the way this regulatory hierarchy controls the terminal differentiation functions for sexually dimorphic development.

}, issn = {0092-8674}, author = {Baker, B.S. and Belote, J.M. and Handler, A.M. and Wolfner, M.F. and Livak, K.J.} } @article {1146, title = {Sex determination and dosage compensation in melanogaster.}, journal = {Annual Review of Genetics}, volume = {17}, year = {1983}, month = {1983 Dec}, pages = {345-93}, author = {Baker, B.S. and Belote, J.M.} } @article {1145, title = {Sex determination in Drosophila melanogaster: analysis of transformer-2 , a sex-transforming locus.}, journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America}, volume = {79}, year = {1982}, month = {1982 Mar}, pages = {1568-72}, abstract = {

The transformer-2 (tra-2) locus is one of a set of regulatory loci that control sex determination in Drosophila melanogaster. Temperature-shift experiments with temperature-sensitive tra-2 mutants demonstrate that within single cell lineages tra-2+ function is required at several times, and probably continuously, during development for the occurrence of a series of determinative decisions necessary for female sexual differentiation. Analysis of the effects of tra-2 in the genital disc demonstrates that the tra-2+ function is necessary in females both to prevent male sexual differentiation and to permit female differentiation. These and other results support the model that the tra-2+ and tra+ loci act to control the expression of the bifunctional doublesex (dsx) locus.

}, issn = {0027-8424}, author = {Baker, B.S. and Belote, J.M.} }