Abstract
The male tail sensory rays in Caenorhabditis elegans are complex copulatory structures, the normal patterning of which requires a number of regulatory genes. Among them, mab-21 specifies the identity of sensory ray 6. By using green fluorescent protein reporters, we identify multiple cis-acting elements that control the developmental expression of mab-21. Traced with a functional mab-21:gfp gene driven by authentic regulatory sequences, mab-21 expression could be detected in hypodermal, neuronal, muscle, and ray cells. We showed here that the expression of mab-21 in the hypodermis and neuronal cells was dispensable for its function in ray 6. In contrast, its expression in the ray 6 structural cell and neurons as conferred by its 3' enhancer was crucial for determining the correct ray 6 identity.
Copyright 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Publication types
-
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
-
Amino Acid Sequence
-
Animals
-
Caenorhabditis / embryology
-
Caenorhabditis / genetics
-
Caenorhabditis elegans / embryology*
-
Caenorhabditis elegans / genetics*
-
Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins*
-
Cell Differentiation
-
DNA, Complementary / metabolism
-
Enhancer Elements, Genetic
-
Genes, Reporter
-
Genitalia, Male / embryology*
-
Green Fluorescent Proteins
-
Helminth Proteins / biosynthesis
-
Introns
-
Luminescent Proteins / metabolism
-
Male
-
Models, Genetic
-
Molecular Sequence Data
-
Neurons / metabolism
-
Phosphorylation
-
Recombinant Fusion Proteins / metabolism
-
Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
-
Time Factors
-
Transformation, Genetic
-
Transgenes
Substances
-
Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins
-
DNA, Complementary
-
Helminth Proteins
-
Luminescent Proteins
-
Mab-21 protein, C elegans
-
Recombinant Fusion Proteins
-
Green Fluorescent Proteins