title: A cuticle collagen encoded by the lon-3 gene may be a target of TGF-beta signaling in determining Caenorhabditis elegans body shape.
abstract: The signaling pathway initiated by the TGF-beta family member DBL-1 in Caenorhabditis elegans controls body shape in a dose-dependent manner. Loss-of-function (lf) mutations in the dbl-1 gene cause a short, small body (Sma phenotype), whereas overexpression of dbl-1 causes a long body (Lon phenotype). To understand the cellular mechanisms underlying these phenotypes, we have isolated suppressors of the Sma phenotype resulting from a dbl-1(lf) mutation. Two of these suppressors are mutations in the lon-3 gene, of which four additional alleles are known. We show that lon-3 encodes a collagen that is a component of the C. elegans cuticle. Genetic and reporter-gene expression analyses suggest that lon-3 is involved in determination of body shape and is post-transcriptionally regulated by the dbl-1 pathway. These results support the possibility that TGF-beta signaling controls C. elegans body shape by regulating cuticle composition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0347, USA.
authors.forename: Yo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Gail A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: William B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Wood
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D003094:Collagen / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D018509:DNA, Helminth / Q000235:genetics; D017238:Genes, Helminth; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008954:Models, Biological; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013489:Suppression, Genetic; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D018509:DNA, Helminth; D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta; C469571:lon-3 protein, C elegans; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D003094:Collagen