The coordinate regulation of pharyngeal development in C. elegans by lin-35/Rb, pha-1, and ubc-18.
Organ development is a complex process involving the coordination of cell proliferation, differentiation, and morphogenetic events. Using a screen to identify genes that function coordinately with lin-35/Rb during animal development, we have isolated a weak loss-of-function (LOF) mutation in pha-1. lin-35; pha-1 double mutants are defective at an early step in pharyngeal morphogenesis leading to an abnormal pharyngeal architecture. pha-1 is also synthetically lethal with other class B synthetic multivulval (SynMuv) genes including the C. elegans E2F homolog, efl-1. Reporter analyses indicate that pha-1 is broadly expressed during embryonic development and that its functions reside in the cytoplasm. We also provide genetic and phenotypic evidence to support the model that PHA-1, a novel protein, and UBC-18, a ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme that we have previously shown to function with lin-35 during pharyngeal development, act in parallel pathways to regulate the activity of a common cellular target.
Fay
David S
DS
Department of Molecular Biology, College of Agriculture, University of Wyoming, Laramie 82071-3944, USA. davidfay@uwyo.edu
Qiu
Xiaohui
X
Large
Edward
E
Smith
Christopher P
CP
Mango
Susan
S
Johanson
Bethany L
BL
D000818:Animals; D001934:Branchial Region / Q000196:embryology*; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D008025:Ligases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D008954:Models, Biological; D009024:Morphogenesis / Q000235:genetics; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D010641:Phenotype; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D034622:RNA Interference; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D008164:Luminescent Proteins; C489033:PHA-1 protein, C elegans; D012097:Repressor Proteins; C116485:lin-35 protein, C elegans; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D008025:Ligases; C476242:Ubc-18 protein, C elegans