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Science 17 October 1997:
Vol. 278. no. 5337, pp. 452 - 455
DOI: 10.1126/science.278.5337.452
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Reports

The Homeotic Gene lin-39 and the Evolution of Nematode Epidermal Cell Fates

Andreas Eizinger, Ralf J. Sommer *

The fate of ventral epidermal cells differs among nematode species. Nonvulval cells fuse with the epidermis in Caenorhabditis elegans, whereas the homologous cells undergo apoptosis in Pristionchus pacificus. The homeotic gene lin-39 is involved in the regulation of these epidermal cell fates. In Caenorhabditis, lin-39 prevents cell fusion of potential vulval cells and specifies the vulva equivalence group. Pristionchus vulvaless mutants that displayed apoptosis of the vulval precursor cells were isolated, and point mutations in lin-39 were identified. Thus, the evolution of these epidermal cell fates is driven by different intrinsic properties of homologous cells.

Max-Planck Institut für Entwicklungsbiologie, Abteilung Zellbiologie, Spemannstrasse 35, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: sora{at}mailer1.mpib-tuebingen.mpg.de

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Pristionchus pacificus: A Genetic Model System for the Study of Evolutionary Developmental Biology and the Evolution of Complex Life-History Traits.
R. Rae, B. Schlager, and R. J. Sommer (2008)
CSH Protocols 2008, pdb.emo102
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Wnt signaling in Pristionchus pacificus gonadal arm extension and the evolution of organ shape.
D. Rudel, H. Tian, and R. J. Sommer (2008)
PNAS 105, 10826-10831
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The pax-3 gene is involved in vulva formation in Pristionchus pacificus and is a target of the Hox gene lin-39.
B. Yi and R. J. Sommer (2007)
Development 134, 3111-3119
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Conservation of the global sex determination gene tra-1 in distantly related nematodes.
A. Pires-daSilva and R. J. Sommer (2004)
Genes & Dev. 18, 1198-1208
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
AppaDB: an AcedB database for the nematode satellite organism Pristionchus pacificus.
J. Srinivasan, G. W. Otto, U. Kahlow, R. Geisler, and R. J. Sommer (2004)
Nucleic Acids Res. 32, D421-422
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Limited microsynteny between the genomes of Pristionchus pacificus and Caenorhabditis elegans.
K.-Z. Lee, A. Eizinger, R. Nandakumar, S. C. Schuster, and R. J. Sommer (2003)
Nucleic Acids Res. 31, 2553-2560
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Functional specificity of the nematode Hox gene mab-5.
A. Gutierrez, L. Knoch, H. Witte, and R. J. Sommer (2003)
Development 130, 983-993
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
LIN-39/Hox triggers cell division and represses EFF-1/fusogen-dependent vulval cell fusion.
G. Shemer and B. Podbilewicz (2002)
Genes & Dev. 16, 3136-3141
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
A Bacterial Artificial Chromosome-Based Genetic Linkage Map of the Nematode Pristionchus pacificus.
J. Srinivasan, W. Sinz, C. Lanz, A. Brand, R. Nandakumar, G. Raddatz, H. Witte, H. Keller, I. Kipping, A. Pires-daSilva, et al. (2002)
Genetics 162, 129-134
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Evolution of germ-line signals that regulate growth and aging in nematodes.
M. N. Patel, C. G. Knight, C. Karageorgi, and A. M. Leroi (2002)
PNAS 99, 769-774
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Formation of the egg-laying system in Pristionchus pacificus requires complex interactions between gonadal, mesodermal and epidermal tissues and does not rely on single cell inductions.
B. Jungblut, A. Pires-daSilva, and R. J. Sommer (2001)
Development 128, 3395-3404
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Functional comparison of the nematode Hox gene lin-39 in C. elegans and P. pacificus reveals evolutionary conservation of protein function despite divergence of primary sequences.
K. Grandien and R. J. Sommer (2001)
Genes & Dev. 15, 2161-2172
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Novel cell-cell interactions during vulva development in Pristionchus pacificus.
B Jungblut and R. Sommer (2000)
Development 127, 3295-3303
   Abstract »    PDF »
Formation of the vulva in Caenorhabditis elegans: a paradigm for organogenesis.
R Sharma-Kishore, J. White, E Southgate, and B Podbilewicz (1999)
Development 126, 691-699
   Abstract »    PDF »
The Pristionchus HOX gene Ppa-lin-39 inhibits programmed cell death to specify the vulva equivalence group and is not required during vulval induction.
R. Sommer, A Eizinger, K. Lee, B Jungblut, A Bubeck, and I Schlak (1998)
Development 125, 3865-3873
   Abstract »    PDF »


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