erin weston, jimmy goncalves , and karina gonzalez
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Gene Function in Vulval Morphogenesis of C. elegans. Erin Weston, Jimmy Goncalves , and Karina Gonzalez . Introduction . Tubulogenesis in early development is an important process in the function of many organisms. Vulval development of C. elegans is the working model - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Erin Weston, Jimmy Goncalves, and Karina Gonzalez
Gene Function in Vulval Morphogenesis of C. elegans
Introduction • Tubulogenesis in early development is an important process in
the function of many organisms. • Vulval development of C. elegans is the working model• Specifically the role of egl-26
• Egl-26 is active in the maintenance of the shape of the vulva towards the end of the development of the vulva• This is the only gene that has been found to control vulF in this way
• Why haven’t more genes been found to have this role? • Forward genetics
• RNAi should give better insight. Why?
Vulval Morphogenesis • Made up of 7 multi-nucleated
toroids stack on top of each other • Form the connection between the
vulval and uterine lumens to the outside environment • Formation begins when anchor cell
(AC) sends out an EGF-like signal to 3 precursor cells • P6.p adopts the primary fate while
P5.p and P7.p both adopt a secondary fate
• Precursor cells go through division creating 22 cells • Cells begin to move proximally which causes the
invagination of the epithelial lining• AC punches hole through top of vulva to create the
connection to the uterine lumen then retracts
egl-26
Normal L4 vulva egl-26 vulva
• Encodes a protein that is essential in the morphology of the dorsally located vulF cell
• In mutants, the vulF cell collapses after the retraction of the AC
• Expressed non-cell autonomously in the vulE cell and is evident in L4
• Required in the primary lineage of the vulva
Hypothesis •Of a set of genes found to affect vulval development, through the use of RNAi, some of those genes act closely with EGL-26 • To test this hypothesis, RNAi was used to knockdown the expression of a desired gene to observe the loss of function phenotype• Special attention was given to genes in which vulval morphogenesis had been compromised
Procedure
Results• Around 50 genes have been screened• dcp-66, F27C1.6, ncbp-2, egl-30 are of interest because
phenotypes expressed in the vulva are similar to egl-26
dcp-66 F27C1.6 ncbp-2
What’s next?• Continue screening • Rescreen genes of interest • More careful phenotypical analysis
• Transcriptional and translational GFP reporters • Protein localization• Gene expression