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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.
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B. Yi and R. J. Sommer (2007)
Development 134, 3111-3119
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Conservation of the global sex determination gene tra-1 in distantly related nematodes.
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Genes & Dev. 18, 1198-1208
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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
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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
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Functional specificity of the nematode Hox gene mab-5.
A. Gutierrez, L. Knoch, H. Witte, and R. J. Sommer (2003)
Development 130, 983-993
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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
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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
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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
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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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