title: The Caenorhabditis elegans Six/sine oculis class homeobox gene ceh-32 is required for head morphogenesis.
abstract: Caenorhabditis elegans has four members of the Six/sine oculis class of homeobox genes, ceh-32, ceh-33, ceh-34, and ceh-35. Proteins encoded by this gene family are transcription factors sharing two conserved domains, the homeodomain and the Six/sine oculis domain, both involved in DNA binding. ceh-32 expression was detected during embryogenesis in hypodermal and neuronal precursor cells and later in descendants of these cells as well as in gonadal sheath cells. RNAi inactivation studies suggest that ceh-32 plays a role in head morphogenesis, like vab-3, the C. elegans Pax-6 orthologue. ceh-32 and vab-3 are coexpressed in head hypodermal cells and ceh-32 mRNA levels are reduced in vab-3 mutants. Moreover, ectopic expression of VAB-3 in transgenic worms is able to induce ceh-32 ectopically. In addition, we demonstrate that VAB-3 is able to bind directly to the ceh-32 upstream regulatory region in vitro and to activate reporter gene transcription in a yeast one-hybrid system. Our results suggest that VAB-3 acts upstream of ceh-32 during head morphogenesis and directly induces ceh-32. Thus, ceh-32 appears to be the first target gene of VAB-3 identified so far.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cell Biology, Biozentrum, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 50, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dozier
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kagoshima
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Niklaus
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cassata
authors.forename: T R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Bürglin
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D001483:Base Sequence; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D002828:Choristoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D005136:Eye Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005801:Genes, Homeobox / Q000235:genetics*; D006257:Head / Q000196:embryology*; D018869:Heat-Shock Response; D015801:Helminth Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009024:Morphogenesis; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D010641:Phenotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D011485:Protein Binding; D020218:Response Elements / Q000235:genetics; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D013379:Substrate Specificity; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015533:Transcriptional Activation
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D005136:Eye Proteins; D015801:Helminth Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; C087345:So protein, Drosophila; D014157:Transcription Factors; C435523:ceh-32 protein, C elegans; D004247:DNA