title: pag-3, a Caenorhabditis elegans gene involved in touch neuron gene expression and coordinated movement.
abstract: Mutations in a newly identified gene, pag-3, cause ectopic expression of touch neuron genes meo-7, mec-7lacZ and mec-4lacZ in the lineal sisters of the ALM touch neurons, the BDU neurons. Pag-3 mutants also show a reverse kinker uncoordinated phenotype. The first pag-3 allele was isolated in a screen for mutants with altered immunofluorescence staining patterns. Two additional pag-3 alleles were identified in a noncomplementation screen of 38,000 haploid genomes. All of the pag-3 alleles were recessive to wild type and cause the same phenotypes. Two-factor crosses, deficiency mapping and three-factor crosses located pag-3 to the right arm of the X chromosome between unc-3 and unc-7. Because recessive mutations in pag-3 result in expression of several touch cell specific genes in the BDU neurons, pag-3(+) must directly or indirectly suppress expression of these genes in the BDU neurons. Although pag-3 mutants did not show mec-3lacZ expression in their BDU neurons, expression of mec-7lacZ and mec-4lacZ in the BDU neurons of pag-3 mutants required mec-3(+).
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Louisiana State University Medical Center, Shreveport 71130-3932, USA.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Aamodt
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D017238:Genes, Helminth; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology; D009154:Mutation; D009475:Neurons, Afferent / Q000502:physiology*; D010641:Phenotype; D014110:Touch / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D014960:X Chromosome / Q000235:genetics