Reprogramming of early embryonic blastomeres into endodermal progenitors by a Caenorhabditis elegans GATA factor.
The END-1 GATA factor has been implicated in specifying endoderm in Caenorhabditis elegans and is the earliest known zygotic protein expressed in the lineage of E, the clonal endoderm progenitor. We report that ubiquitous end-1 expression during a critical period in embryogenesis causes all non-endodermal lineages to produce endoderm instead of ectoderm and/or mesoderm. END-1 expression bypasses the requirement for maternal SKN-1 and the maternal Wnt signaling pathway in endoderm formation. This suggests that a primary function of these maternal factors is to regulate zygotic end-1 expression, which is then sufficient to initiate the entire program for endoderm development.
Zhu
J
J
Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106 USA.
Fukushige
T
T
McGhee
J D
JD
Rothman
J H
JH
D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D001757:Blastomeres / Q000166:cytology*; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D019070:Cell Lineage; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D003594:Cytoplasmic Granules; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D004707:Endoderm / Q000166:cytology*; D050980:GATA Transcription Factors; D015801:Helminth Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D007422:Intestines; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D013997:Time Factors; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D051153:Wnt Proteins; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins; D015053:Zygote; D051176:beta Catenin
D015415:Biomarkers; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C109211:END-1 protein, C elegans; D050980:GATA Transcription Factors; D015801:Helminth Proteins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors; D051153:Wnt Proteins; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins; D051176:beta Catenin; C073702:skn-1 protein, C elegans