SRC-1 and Wnt signaling act together to specify endoderm and to control cleavage orientation in early C. elegans embryos.
In early C. elegans embryos, signaling between a posterior blastomere, P2, and a ventral blastomere, EMS, specifies endoderm and orients the division axis of the EMS cell. Although Wnt signaling contributes to this polarizing interaction, no mutants identified to date abolish P2/EMS signaling. Here, we show that two tyrosine kinase-related genes, src-1 and mes-1, are required for the accumulation of phosphotyrosine between P2 and EMS. Moreover, src-1 and mes-1 mutants strongly enhance endoderm and EMS spindle rotation defects associated with Wnt pathway mutants. SRC-1 and MES-1 signal bidirectionally to control cell fate and division orientation in both EMS and P2. Our findings suggest that Wnt and Src signaling function in parallel to control developmental outcomes within a single responding cell.
Bei
Yanxia
Y
Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 373 Plantation Street, Worcester, MA 01605, USA.
Hogan
Jennifer
J
Berkowitz
Laura A
LA
Soto
Martha
M
Rocheleau
Christian E
CE
Pang
Ka Ming
KM
Collins
John
J
Mello
Craig C
CC
D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning / Q000502:physiology; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D002455:Cell Division / Q000502:physiology*; D019070:Cell Lineage / Q000502:physiology; D016764:Cell Polarity / Q000502:physiology*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D004707:Endoderm / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000502:physiology; D015801:Helminth Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006609:High Mobility Group Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D019000:Phosphotyrosine / Q000378:metabolism; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D051153:Wnt Proteins; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins; D019061:src-Family Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism
D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D015801:Helminth Proteins; D006609:High Mobility Group Proteins; C415743:Mes-1 protein, C elegans; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D051153:Wnt Proteins; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins; C096787:pop-1 protein, C elegans; D019000:Phosphotyrosine; D019061:src-Family Kinases