The C. elegans LIM homeobox gene lin-11 specifies multiple cell fates during vulval development.
LIM homeobox family members regulate a variety of cell fate choices during animal development. In C. elegans, mutations in the LIM homeobox gene lin-11 have previously been shown to alter the cell division pattern of a subset of the 2 degrees lineage vulval cells. We demonstrate multiple functions of lin-11 during vulval development. We examined the fate of vulval cells in lin-11 mutant animals using five cellular markers and found that lin-11 is necessary for the patterning of both 1 degrees and 2 degrees lineage cells. In the absence of lin-11 function, vulval cells fail to acquire correct identity and inappropriately fuse with each other. The expression pattern of lin-11 reveals dynamic changes during development. Using a temporally controlled overexpression system, we show that lin-11 is initially required in vulval cells for establishing the correct invagination pattern. This process involves asymmetric expression of lin-11 in the 2 degrees lineage cells. Using a conditional RNAi approach, we show that lin-11 regulates vulval morphogenesis. Finally, we show that LDB-1, a NLI/Ldb1/CLIM2 family member, interacts physically with LIN-11, and is necessary for vulval morphogenesis. Together, these findings demonstrate that temporal regulation of lin-11 is crucial for the wild-type vulval patterning.
Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
Bhagwati P
BP
Gupta
Minqin
M
Wang
Paul W
PW
Sternberg
D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning / Q000502:physiology; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D002460:Cell Line; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D020798:Two-Hybrid System Techniques; D014844:Vulva / Q000196:embryology*
D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; C111267:Lin-11 protein, C elegans; C486315:ldb-1 protein, C elegans