The MADS-Box factor CeMEF2 is not essential for Caenorhabditis elegans myogenesis and development.
MEF2 is an evolutionarily conserved MADS (MCM1, Agamous, Deficiens, and serum response factor) box-type transcription factor that plays a critical role in vertebrate and Drosophila melanogaster myogenesis. We have addressed the developmental role of the single MEF2-like factor, CeMEF2, in Caenorhabditis elegans. Using expression assays and two mef-2 deletion alleles, we show that CeMEF2 is not required for proper myogenesis or development. Moreover, a putative null mef-2 allele fails to enhance or suppress the phenotypes of mutants in CeMyoD or CeTwist. Our results suggest that despite its evolutionary conservation of sequence and DNA binding properties, CeMEF2 has adopted a divergent role in development in the nematode compared with Drosophila and vertebrates.
Dichoso
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Laboratory of Molecular Biology, NIDDK, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892-0510, USA.
Brodigan
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Chwoe
K Y
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Lee
J S
JS
Llacer
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Park
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Corsi
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AK
Kostas
S A
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Fire
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Ahnn
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Krause
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D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D017353:Gene Deletion; D017238:Genes, Helminth; D064326:MEF2 Transcription Factors; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009132:Muscles / Q000196:embryology*; D018006:Myogenic Regulatory Factors; D011485:Protein Binding; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D064326:MEF2 Transcription Factors; D018006:Myogenic Regulatory Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors; C518291:mef-2 protein, C elegans