RRC ID 76249
Author Murray JI, Preston E, Crawford JP, Rumley JD, Amom P, Anderson BD, Sivaramakrishnan P, Patel SD, Bennett BA, Lavon TD, Hsiao E, Peng F, Zacharias AL.
Title The anterior Hox gene ceh-13 and elt-1/GATA activate the posterior Hox genes nob-1 and php-3 to specify posterior lineages in the C. elegans embryo.
Journal PLoS Genet
Abstract Hox transcription factors play a conserved role in specifying positional identity during animal development, with posterior Hox genes typically repressing the expression of more anterior Hox genes. Here, we dissect the regulation of the posterior Hox genes nob-1 and php-3 in the nematode C. elegans. We show that nob-1 and php-3 are co-expressed in gastrulation-stage embryos in cells that previously expressed the anterior Hox gene ceh-13. This expression is controlled by several partially redundant transcriptional enhancers. These enhancers act in a ceh-13-dependant manner, providing a striking example of an anterior Hox gene positively regulating a posterior Hox gene. Several other regulators also act positively through nob-1/php-3 enhancers, including elt-1/GATA, ceh-20/ceh-40/Pbx, unc-62/Meis, pop-1/TCF, ceh-36/Otx, and unc-30/Pitx. We identified defects in both cell position and cell division patterns in ceh-13 and nob-1;php-3 mutants, suggesting that these factors regulate lineage identity in addition to positional identity. Together, our results highlight the complexity and flexibility of Hox gene regulation and function and the ability of developmental transcription factors to regulate different targets in different stages of development.
Volume 18(5)
Pages e1010187
Published 2022-5-1
DOI 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010187
PII PGENETICS-D-21-00973
PMID 35500030
PMC PMC9098060
MeSH Animals Caenorhabditis elegans* / metabolism Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins* / genetics Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins* / metabolism Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental Genes, Homeobox / genetics Homeodomain Proteins / genetics Homeodomain Proteins / metabolism Transcription Factors / genetics Transcription Factors / metabolism
Resource
C.elegans tm4063