Drosophila melanogaster Male Somatic Cells Feminized Solely by Tra^sup F^ Can Collaborate With Female Germ Cells to Make Functional Eggs

ABSTRACT

Female differentiation of Drosophila germ cells is induced by cell-nonautonomous signals generated in the gonadal soma that work with germ-cell-autonomous signals determined by germ-cell X chromosome dose. Generation of the nonautonomous feminizing signals was known to involve female-specific protein encoded by the master sex-determination gene Sex-lethal (Sxl) acting on its switch-gene target transformer (tra) to produce Tra^sup F^ protein. However, it was not known whether Sxl's action on tra alone would suffice to trigger a fully feminizing nonautonomous signal. We…