title: MPK-1 ERK controls membrane organization in C. elegans oogenesis via a sex-determination module.
abstract: Tissues that generate specialized cell types in a production line must coordinate developmental mechanisms with physiological demand, although how this occurs is largely unknown. In the Caenorhabditis elegans hermaphrodite, the developmental sex-determination cascade specifies gamete sex in the distal germline, while physiological sperm signaling activates MPK-1/ERK in the proximal germline to control plasma membrane biogenesis and organization during oogenesis. We discovered repeated utilization of a self-contained negative regulatory module, consisting of NOS-3 translational repressor, FEM-CUL-2 (E3 ubiquitin ligase), and TRA-1 (Gli transcriptional repressor), which acts both in sex determination and in physiological demand control of oogenesis, coordinating these processes. In the distal germline, where MPK-1 is not activated, TRA-1 represses the male fate as NOS-3 functions in translational repression leading to inactivation of the FEM-CUL-2 ubiquitin ligase. In the proximal germline, sperm-dependent physiological MPK-1 activation results in phosphorylation-based inactivation of NOS-3, FEM-CUL-2-mediated degradation of TRA-1 and the promotion of membrane organization during oogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO 63110, USA.
authors.forename: Swathi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arur
authors.forename: Mitsue
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohmachi
authors.forename: Matt
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Berkseth
authors.forename: Sudhir
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nayak
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zarkower
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schedl
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D005854:Germ Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D012732:Sex Determination Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000378:metabolism; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C515528:Nos-3 protein, C elegans; D014157:Transcription Factors; C121025:tra-1 protein, C elegans; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1; C085697:mpk-1 protein, C elegans