Caenorhabditis elegans dpy-14: an essential collagen gene with unique expression profile and physiological roles in early development.
We describe the molecular characterisation of Caenorhabditis elegans dpy-14, a gene encoding an essential cuticular collagen annotated as col-59. Expression of dpy-14 starts at the 16 E cell stage, making it the earliest-expressing collagen reported to date. SAGE data and dpy-14 promoter::GFP reporter constructs indicate that the gene is transcribed mainly during embryogenesis, specifically in ciliated neurons and hypoderm. Water permeability assays and lectin staining showed that a mutation in the DPY-14 collagen results in defects in the channels of the amphids, which are a class of ciliated neuron, while the amphids appear morphologically normal by dye filling methods. Behavioural assays showed that the ciliated neurons expressing the gene are functional in dpy-14 mutants. All together, our data suggest that ciliated neurons and their hypodermal support cells collaborate in the transcription and synthesis of DPY-14, which then becomes a component of the amphid channels but not of the amphids proper. Interestingly, seam cells of dpy-14 mutants do not properly fuse to form a syncytium. This novel phenotype due to collagen mutations further stresses that dpy-14 plays a fundamental role in C. elegans physiology, since it is required for the proper development of the hypoderm.
Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, V5A 1S6, Burnaby, BC, Canada.
Marco
M
Gallo
Allan K
AK
Mah
Robert C
RC
Johnsen
Ann M
AM
Rose
David L
DL
Baillie
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins