Worm Breeder's Gazette 9(1): 32
These abstracts should not be cited in bibliographies. Material contained herein should be treated as personal communication and should be cited as such only with the consent of the author.
The semidominant allele n695 of her-1 V causes incomplete masculinization of XX animals (Trent et al, 1983, Genetics 104:619). This Tra phenotype can be reverted by generating a recessive her-1 mutation in cis to the n695 mutation. Such recessive mutations transform animals into phenotypic males but have no effect on XX animals (Hodgkin, 1980, Genetics 96:649). In an attempt to identify Tc1 insertions in her-1, we have screened for revertants in a strain carrying n695 and the mutator activity from Phil Anderson's TR679 strain. Among the revertants obtained, one carries an allele (ct50) that fails to complement the recessive allele her-1(e1520) and suppresses the Him phenotype associated with the mutator activity. After five backcrosses to N2, we examined the her-1(ct50n695) strain for Tc1 polymorphisms linked to the her-1 region. We found 11 new Tc1- containing Eco RI fragments (not found in Bristol strains) linked to her-1. In three factor cross experiments, 10 of the 11 Tc1 polymorphisms were separated by recombination from her-1(ct50n695). However, one Tc1 polymorphism (an Eco Regenerated 9kb fragment) segregated with the her-1(ct50n695) mutation in 23 out of 23 recombinants between unc-23 and egl-3, which flank her-1 and are separated by approximately 1 map unit. Therefore, this Tc1 polymorphism may represent an insertion in the her-1 gene. Experiments are in progress to clone this Tc1-containing fragment.