The developmental timing regulator HBL-1 modulates the dauer formation decision in Caenorhabditis elegans.
Animals developing in the wild encounter a range of environmental conditions, and so developmental mechanisms have evolved that can accommodate different environmental contingencies. Harsh environmental conditions cause Caenorhabditis elegans larvae to arrest as stress-resistant "dauer" larvae after the second larval stage (L2), thereby indefinitely postponing L3 cell fates. HBL-1 is a key transcriptional regulator of L2 vs. L3 cell fate. Through the analysis of genetic interactions between mutations of hbl-1 and of genes encoding regulators of dauer larva formation, we find that hbl-1 can also modulate the dauer formation decision in a complex manner. We propose that dynamic interactions between genes that regulate stage-specific cell fate decisions and those that regulate dauer formation promote the robustness of developmental outcomes to changing environmental conditions.
Karp
Xantha
X
University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts 01605, USA.
Ambros
Victor
V
D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System / Q000378:metabolism; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D007328:Insulin / Q000378:metabolism; D007814:Larva / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013997:Time Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000378:metabolism
D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D007328:Insulin; D014157:Transcription Factors; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta; C474486:hbl-1 protein, C elegans; C486228:DAF-9 protein, C elegans