unc-3, a gene required for axonal guidance in Caenorhabditis elegans, encodes a member of the O/E family of transcription factors.
The expression of specialized signal transduction components in mammalian olfactory neurons is thought to be regulated by the O/E (Olf-1/EBF) family of transcription factors. The O/E proteins are expressed in cells of the olfactory neuronal lineage throughout development and are also expressed transiently in neurons in the developing nervous system during embryogenesis. We have identified a C. elegans homologue of the mammalian O/E proteins, which displays greater than 80% similarity over 350 amino acids. Like its mammalian homologues, CeO/E is expressed in certain chemosensory neurons (ASI amphid neurons) throughout development and is also expressed transiently in developing motor neurons when these cells undergo axonal outgrowth. We demonstrate that CeO/E is the product of the unc-3 gene, mutations in which cause defects in the axonal outgrowth of motor neurons, as well as defects in dauer formation, a process requiring chemosensory inputs. These observations suggest that the O/E family of transcription factors play a central and evolutionarily conserved role in the expression of proteins essential for axonal pathfinding and/or neuronal differentiation in both sensory and motor neurons.
Prasad
B C
BC
Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Ye
B
B
Zackhary
R
R
Schrader
K
K
Seydoux
G
G
Reed
R R
RR
D000375:Aging; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D004627:Embryonic Induction; D005091:Exons; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D017238:Genes, Helminth; D015801:Helminth Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D008322:Mammals; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D009420:Nervous System / Q000196:embryology; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D017354:Point Mutation; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics
D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D015801:Helminth Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C112508:unc-3 protein, C elegans