Heterochronic genes control cell cycle progress and developmental competence of C. elegans vulva precursor cells.
Heterochronic genes control the timing of vulval development in the C. elegans hermaphrodite. lin-14 or lin-28 loss-of-function mutations cause the vulval precursor cells (VPCs) to enter S phase and to divide one larval stage earlier than in the wild type. A precocious vulva is formed by essentially normal cell lineage patterns, governed by the same intercellular signals as in the wild type. Mutations that prevent the normal developmental down-regulation of lin-14, activity delay or block VPC division and prevent vulval differentiation. A genetic pathway that includes lin-4, lin-14, and lin-28 controls when VPCs complete G1 and also controls when VPCs acquire the competence to respond to the intercellular patterning signals and express vulval fates.
Euling
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Department of Cellular and Developmental Biology, Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
Ambros
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D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002455:Cell Division; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000502:physiology; D018509:DNA, Helminth / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D017238:Genes, Helminth; D005838:Genotype; D006918:Hydroxyurea / Q000494:pharmacology; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors; D014844:Vulva / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development*; D001616:beta-Galactosidase / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis
D018509:DNA, Helminth; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D001616:beta-Galactosidase; D006918:Hydroxyurea