cdc-25.2 mRNA was hardly detectable in
glp-1(
q224) hermaphrodites compared with N2 hermaphrodites, indicating that
cdc-25.2 is preferentially expressed in the germ line. In N2 hermaphrodites, expression of
cdc-25.2 mRNA was relatively low until L4 larval stage, but the expression increased significantly in young adult (YA; just after the L4 to adult molting but before egg laying has started) and adult (Ad; egg-laying gravid adult worms) stages, when oogenesis actively occurs in hermaphrodite worms. Furthermore, although
cdc-25.2 mRNA was expressed in feminized
fem-1(
hc17lf) hermaphrodites, it was barely detectable in N2 males and in masculinized
fem-3(
q20gf) hermaphrodites. These results indicate that
cdc-25.2 is expressed primarily in oocytes and not in sperm. However, compared with the robust expression in the N2 hermaphrodite germ line, the expression was much weaker in the feminized
fem-1(lf) germ line, suggesting that the presence of sperm or fertilization positively affect the
cdc-25.2 expression level. In conclusion, quantitative real-time RT-PCR showed that
cdc-25.2 is predominantly expressed in oocytes of adult hermaphrodites.