title: Expression of the C. elegans labial orthologue ceh-13 during male tail morphogenesis.
abstract: Hox genes are transcriptional regulators of metazoan body regionalization along the anteroposterior axis that act by specifying positional identity in differentiating cells. ceh-13, the labial orthologue in Caenorhabditis elegans, is expressed both during embryogenesis and post- embryonic development. Using GFP reporter analysis and immunocytochemistry, we discovered a spatiotemporal pattern of gene expression in the male tail during the L3 and L4 larval stages that is TGF-beta pathway-dependent. Analysis of reporter activity in transgenic animals identified a distinct promoter region driving male tail-specific ceh-13 expression. We also report the interspecies conservation of sequence motifs within this region and speculate that, in the course of evolutionary diversification, ceh-13 may have acquired new functionality while conserving its homeotic role.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology, University of Fribourg, Pérolles, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Charles-Nicolas
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Stoyanov
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fleischmann
authors.forename: Yo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Natacha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tapparel
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gautron
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Streit
authors.forename: William B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.forename: Fritz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Müller
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000196:embryology*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D004742:Enhancer Elements, Genetic; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009024:Morphogenesis; D009479:Neuropeptides / Q000502:physiology; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012007:Rectum / Q000196:embryology; D013623:Tail / Q000196:embryology*; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta
chemical_list: C118851:CEH-13 protein, C elegans; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; C117509:Dbl-1 protein, C elegans; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D009479:Neuropeptides; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta