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Developmental expression of FOG‐1/CPEB protein and its control in the Caenorhabditis elegans hermaphrodite germ line

The specification of a germ cell as sperm or oocyte and determination of cell number remain unsolved questions in developmental biology. This paper examines Caenorhabditis elegans FOG‐1, a CPEB‐related RNA‐binding protein that controls the sperm fate. We find that abundant FOG‐1 protein is observed transiently in germ cells just prior to their expression of an early sperm‐differentiation marker. As the germline tissue elongates, abundant FOG‐1 appears more and more distally as sperm become specified, but disappears when the germ line switches to oogenesis. This dynamic pattern is controlled by both globally acting and germline‐specific sex‐determining regulators. Importantly, the extent of FOG‐1 expression corresponds roughly to sperm number in wild‐type and mutants, altering sperm number. By contrast, three other key regulators of the sperm/oocyte decision do not similarly correspond to sperm number. We suggest that FOG‐1 is precisely modulated in both time and space to specify sperm fate and control sperm number. Developmental Dynamics 236:871–879, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.