A homeotic gene cluster patterns the anteroposterior body axis of C. elegans.
In insects and vertebrates, clusters of Antennapedia class homeobox (HOM-C) genes specify anteroposterior body pattern. The nematode C. elegans also contains a small cluster of HOM-C genes, one of which has been shown to specify positional identity. Here we show that two additional C. elegans HOM-C genes also specify positional identity and that together these three HOM-C genes function along the anteroposterior axis in the same order as their homologs in other organisms. Thus, HOM-C-based pattern formation has been conserved in nematodes despite the many differences in morphology and embryology that distinguish them from other phyla. Each C. elegans HOM-C gene is responsible for a distinct body region; however, where their domains overlap, two HOM-C genes can act together to specify the fates of individual cells.
Wang
B B
BB
Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco 94143-0554.
Müller-Immergluck
M M
MM
Austin
J
J
Robinson
N T
NT
Chisholm
A
A
Kenyon
C
C
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics*; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000235:genetics; D005801:Genes, Homeobox; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009024:Morphogenesis; D005810:Multigene Family; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid