Molecular and genetic analysis of sex determination in Drosophila

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Our long term goal is to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the genetic control of sexual development in Drosophila. Because many of the genes in the sex determination pathway are regulated by RNA processing, these studies will also contribute to our understanding of alternative RNA splicing as a means of gene regulation. Our research is focused on the sans-fille (snf) gene. Genetic studies suggest that snf plays a key role in the sexual decision making process in both the germline and the soma. To further our understanding of this newly identified gene we propose: 1) To determine whether snf is required only for sex determination or whether it has a more generalized function in development by analyzing null alleles of the locus. 2) To initiate a detailed molecular characterization of the snf gene and its products and 3) To place snf in the regulatory hierarchy of sex determination genes by a combined molecular and genetic approach. In the fruit fly Drosophila individuals with an X and a Y chromosome develop into males and those with 2X chromosomes develop into females. The decision of which developmental pathway to adopt is made during embryonic life by every cell in the body of the embryo. We have known since the early years of this century that the cells make their decision by counting the number of X chromosomes they contain, but it is only over the past decade that more of the details of the mechanism by which the decision is made have been elucidated. This is a proposal to study a recently discovered early step in this mechanism.