Maternal control of a zygotic patterning gene in Caenorhabditis elegans

Efficient generation of transgenic reporter strains and analysis of expression patterns in Caenorhabditis elegans using library MosSCI

BACKGROUND

In C. elegans, germline development and early embryogenesis rely on posttranscriptional regulation of maternally transcribed mRNAs. In many cases, the 3' untranslated region (UTR) is sufficient to govern the expression patterns of these transcripts. Several RNA-binding proteins are required to regulate maternal mRNAs through the 3'UTR. Despite intensive efforts to map RNA-binding protein-mRNA interactions in vivo, the biological impact of most binding events remains unknown. Reporter studies using single copy integrated transgenes are essential to evaluate the functional consequences of interactions between RNA-binding proteins and their associated mRNAs.

RESULTS

In this report, we present an efficient method of generating reporter strains with improved throughput by using a library variant of MosSCI transgenesis. Furthermore, using RNA interference, we identify the suite of RNA-binding proteins that control the expression pattern of five different maternal mRNAs.

CONCLUSIONS

The results provide a generalizable and efficient strategy to assess the functional relevance of protein-RNA interactions in vivo, and reveal new regulatory connections between key RNA-binding proteins and their maternal mRNA targets. Developmental Dynamics 245:925-936, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Genetic Networks in the Early Development of Caenorhabditis elegans

One of the best-studied model organisms in biology is Caenorhabditis elegans. Because of its simple architecture and other biological advantages, considerable data have been collected about the regulation of its development. In this review, currently available data concerning the early phase of embryonic development are presented in the form of genetic networks. We performed computer simulations of regulatory mechanisms in embryonic development, and the results are described and compared with experimental observations.

Control of vulval competence and centering in the nematode Oscheius sp. 1 CEW1

To compare vulva development mechanisms in the nematode Oscheius sp. 1 to those known in Caenorhabditis elegans, we performed a genetic screen for vulva mutants in Oscheius sp. 1 CEW1. Here we present one large category of mutations that we call cov, which affect the specification of the Pn.p ventral epidermal cells along the antero-posterior axis. The Pn.p cells are numbered from 1 to 12 from anterior to posterior. In wild-type Oscheius sp. 1 CEW1, the P(4-8).p cells are competent to form the vulva and the progeny of P(5-7).p actually form the vulva, with the descendants of P6.p adopting a central vulval fate. Among the 17 mutations (defining 13 genes) that we characterize here, group 1 mutations completely or partially abolish P(4-8).p competence, and this correlates with early fusion of the Pn.p cells to the epidermal syncytium. In this group, we found a putative null mutation in the lin-39 HOM-C homolog, the associated phenotype of which could be weakly mimicked by injection of a morpholino against Osp1-lin-39 in the mother's germ line. Using cell ablation in a partially penetrant competence mutant, we show that vulval competence is partially controlled by a gonadal signal. Most other mutants found in the screen display phenotypes unknown in C. elegans. Group 2 mutants show a partial penetrance of Pn.p competence loss and an abnormal centering of the vulva on P5.p, suggesting that these two processes are coregulated by the same pathway in Oscheius sp. 1. Group 3 mutants display an enlarged competence group that includes P3.p, thus demonstrating the existence of a specific mechanism inhibiting P3.p competence. Group 4 mutants display an abnormal centering of the vulval pattern on P7.p and suggest that a specific mechanism centers the vulval pattern on a single Pn.p cell.

The nematode even-skipped homolog vab-7 regulates gonad and vulva position in Pristionchus pacificus

In free-living nematodes, developmental processes like the formation of the vulva, can be studied at a cellular level. Cell lineage and ablation studies have been carried out in various nematode species and multiple changes in vulval patterning have been identified. In Pristionchus pacificus, vulva formation differs from Caenorhabditis elegans with respect to several autonomous and conditional aspects of cell fate specification. To understand the molecular basis of these evolutionary changes, we have performed a genetic analysis of vulva formation in P. pacificus. Here, we describe two mutants where the vulva is shifted posteriorly, affecting which precursor cells will form vulval tissue in P. pacificus. Mutant animals show a concomitant posterior displacement of the gonadal anchor cell, indicating that the gonad and the vulva are affected in a similar way. We show that mutations in the even-skipped homolog of nematodes, vab-7, cause these posterior displacements. In addition, cell ablation studies in the vab-7 mutant indicate that the altered position of the gonad not only changes the cell fate pattern but also the developmental competence of vulval precursor cells. Investigation of Cel-vab-7 mutant animals showed a similar but weaker vulva defective phenotype to the one described for Ppa-vab-7.

Zygotic expression of the caudal homolog pal-1 is required for posterior patterning in Caenorhabditis elegans embryogenesis

Previous work has shown that the Caenorhabditis elegans gene pal-1, a homolog of Drosophila caudal, is required maternally for blastomere specification in the early embryo and postembryonically for tail development in males. We show here that embryonic (zygotic) transcription of pal-1 is also required for posterior patterning during later embryogenesis. Embryos homozygous for strong loss-of-function mutations arrest as nonviable L1 larvae with gross posterior defects. PAL-1 protein produced from zygotic transcripts is expressed dynamically during gastrulation and morphogenesis in specific cells of all major lineages except the germ line. Most expressing cells are undergoing cell movements or forming midline structures or both. Mutant embryos exhibit defects involving most of the expressing cells. Aberrant early cell positions are observed in posterior hypodermis, both in the C-lineage cells that express pal-1 and in the neighboring hypodermal seam cell precursors, which do not, as well as in posterior muscle derived from the C and D lineages. Defects in late gastrulation, ventral hypodermal enclosure, and formation of the rectum result from failures of cell movements of ABp and MS descendants. Limited mosaic analysis supports the view that most of the required pal-1 functions are cell autonomous.

egl-27 generates anteroposterior patterns of cell fusion in C. elegans by regulating Hox gene expression and Hox protein function

Hox genes pattern the fates of the ventral ectodermal Pn.p cells that lie along the anteroposterior (A/P) body axis of C. elegans. In these cells, the Hox genes are expressed in sequential overlapping domains where they control the ability of each Pn.p cell to fuse with the surrounding syncytial epidermis. The activities of Hox proteins are sex-specific in this tissue, resulting in sex-specific patterns of cell fusion: in hermaphrodites, the mid-body cells remain unfused, whereas in males, alternating domains of syncytial and unfused cells develop. We have found that the gene egl-27, which encodes a C. elegans homologue of a chromatin regulatory factor, specifies these patterns by regulating both Hox gene expression and Hox protein function. In egl-27 mutants, the expression domains of Hox genes in these cells are shifted posteriorly, suggesting that egl-27 influences A/P positional information. In addition, egl-27 controls Hox protein function in the Pn.p cells in two ways: in hermaphrodites it inhibits MAB-5 activity, whereas in males it permits a combinatorial interaction between LIN-39 and MAB-5. Thus, by selectively modifying the activities of Hox proteins, egl-27 elaborates a simple Hox expression pattern into complex patterns of cell fates. Taken together, these results implicate egl-27 in the diversification of cell fates along the A/P axis and suggest that chromatin reorganization is necessary for controlling Hox gene expression and Hox protein function.

The Cdx-1 and Cdx-2 homeobox genes in the intestine

The past years have witnessed an increasing number of reports relative to homeobox genes in endoderm-derived tissues. In this review, we focus on the caudal-related Cdx-1 and Cdx-2 homeobox genes to give an overview of the in vivo, in vitro, and ex vivo approaches that emphasize their primary role in intestinal development and in the control of intestinal cell proliferation, differentiation, and identity. The participation of these genes in colon tumorigenesis and their identification as important actors of the oncogenic process are also discussed.

Early patterning of the C. elegans embryo

Studies of about 20 maternally expressed genes are providing an understanding of mechanisms of patterning and cell-fate determination in the early Caenorhabditis elegans embryo. The analyses have revealed that fates of the early blastomeres are specified by a combination of intrinsically asymmetric cell divisions and two types of cell-cell interactions: inductions and polarizing interactions. In this review we summarize the current level of understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying these processes in the specification of cell fates in the pregastrulation embryo.

The maternal-to-zygotic transition in embryonic patterning of Caenorhabditis elegans

Maternal factors laid down in the oocyte regulate blastomere identities in the early Caenorhabditis elegans embryo by activating zygotic patterning genes and restricting their expression to the appropriate lineages. A number of early-acting zygotic genes that specify various cell fates have been identified recently and their temporal and spatial regulation by maternal factors has begun to be elucidated.