Kimble J, Sharrock W J
Dev Biol. 1983 Mar;96(1):189-96. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(83)90322-6.
The primary site of yolk protein synthesis in the nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, has been determined. In animals containing no gonadal cells (obtained by laser ablation of the gonadal precursor cells early in development), yolk proteins are present in abundance. This demonstrates that yolk proteins are made outside the gonad. An examination of proteins present in tissues isolated by dissection, and a comparison of proteins synthesized by isolated tissues incubated in vitro have identified the intestine as the major site of yolk protein synthesis. We propose that yolk proteins are synthesized in the intestine, secreted from the intestine into the body cavity, and taken up from the body cavity by the gonad to reach oocytes. The site of yolk protein synthesis has also been examined in four mutants that have largely male somatic tissues, but a hermaphrodite germ line. Here again, yolk proteins are produced by intestines in a hermaphrodite-specific manner. This suggests that sex determination is coordinately regulated in intestinal and germ line tissues.
线虫秀丽隐杆线虫中卵黄蛋白合成的主要位点已被确定。在不含生殖腺细胞的动物（通过在发育早期对生殖腺前体细胞进行激光消融获得）中，卵黄蛋白大量存在。这表明卵黄蛋白是在生殖腺外合成的。对通过解剖分离的组织中存在的蛋白质进行检查，以及对体外培养的分离组织合成的蛋白质进行比较，已确定肠道是卵黄蛋白合成的主要位点。我们提出，卵黄蛋白在肠道中合成，从肠道分泌到体腔中，并由生殖腺从体腔中摄取以到达卵母细胞。还在四个主要具有雄性体细胞组织但具有雌雄同体生殖系的突变体中检查了卵黄蛋白合成位点。同样，肠道以雌雄同体特异性方式产生卵黄蛋白。这表明在肠道和生殖系组织中性别决定受到协调调节。
