Further characterization of a temperature-sensitive transformation mutant in Caenorhabditis elegans.

The temperature-sensitive sex transformer tra-2 (b202) II of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans causes the transformation of genotypically hermaphrodite worms into phenotypic males and sterile intersexes at restrictive temperature. In this note, we show that the entire gonad structure is transformed and that oocyte development is autonomous of the form of the gonad and of the presence of a cellular sheath. Four oocyte-specific proteins are present in male intersexes that produce oocytes but are lacking in transformed males and hermaphrodite intersexes that do not produce oocytes.