Figure 9

Sex determining interactions on a cellular level. Suggested protein interactions in the later stages of the sex determination pathway in C.elegans. While the SDC proteins have also been known to serve as part of the dosage compensation mechanism in C.elegans, HER-1 has been pictured as capable of binding to the TRA-2 receptor, which then releases the FEM molecules in males. Those in turn bind to the TRA-1 transcription factors rendering them inactive. In hermaphrodites, the TRA-2 receptors retain their hold on FEM, and TRA-1 is free to act as a transcription factor on the genome.