Multiple roles for the E/Daughterless ortholog HLH-2 during C. elegans gonadogenesis.
HLH-2 is the Caenorhabditis elegans ortholog of the Drosophila Daughterless and mammalian E basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcriptional activators that function during diverse events during animal development. HLH-2 has been implicated in cell fate specification in different neural lineages and in the LIN-12/Notch-mediated anchor cell (AC)/ventral uterine precursor cell (VU) decision in the somatic gonad. Here, we show that hlh-2 plays several distinct roles during somatic gonadogenesis. Our analysis suggests that hlh-2 is required to endow specific somatic gonadal cells with the competence to undergo the AC/VU decision, as well as functioning in the AC/VU decision per se; this novel "proAC" role appears to be analogous to the proneural role of Drosophila Daughterless. In addition to its two distinct roles in the specification of the AC, hlh-2 is also required for correct differentiation and function of the AC. hlh-2 also acts at an independent point in the gonadal lineage both to specify distal tip cells (DTCs) and in DTC differentiation and function.
Department of Genetics and Development, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY 10032, USA. xek1@columbia.edu
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D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics; D019070:Cell Lineage; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D012734:Disorders of Sex Development / Q000235:genetics; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian; D005260:Female; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D007814:Larva; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D038081:Organogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D034622:RNA Interference; D051880:Receptors, Notch; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000502:physiology*; D014599:Uterus / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology*
D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D051880:Receptors, Notch; D014157:Transcription Factors; C090080:Da protein, Drosophila; C106514:HLH-2 protein, C elegans; C082460:Lin-12 protein, C elegans; C086488:lag-2 protein, C elegans