Back to Search
Start Over
C. elegans PlexinA PLX-1 mediates a cell contact-dependent stop signal in vulval precursor cells
- Source :
- Developmental biology. 282(1)
- Publication Year :
- 2005
-
Abstract
- PLX-1 is a PlexinA transmembrane protein in Caenorhabditis elegans, and the transmembrane-type semaphorin, SMP-1, is a ligand for PLX-1. The SMP-1/PLX-1 system has been shown to be necessary for proper epidermal morphogenesis in the male tail and seam cells. Here, we show that the SMP-1/PLX-1 system also regulates vulval morphogenesis. In plx-1 and smp-1 mutants, hermaphrodites sometimes exhibit a protruding vulva or multiple vulva-like protrusions. Throughout the vulval development of plx-1 and smp-1 mutants, the arrangement of vulval cells is often disrupted. In the initial step of vulval morphogenesis, vulval precursor cells (VPCs) are generated normally but are subsequently arranged abnormally in mutants. Continuous observation revealed that plx-1 VPC fails to terminate longitudinal extension after making contact with neighbor VPCs. The arrangement defects of VPCs in plx-1 and smp-1 mutants are rescued by expressing the respective cDNA in VPCs. plx-1::egfp and smp-1::egfp transgenes are both expressed in all vulval cells, including VPCs, throughout vulval development. We propose that the SMP-1/PLX-1 system is responsible for a cell contact-mediated stop signal for VPC extension. Analyses using cell fate-specific markers showed that the arrangement defects of VPCs also affect cell fate specification and cell lineages, but in a relatively small fraction of plx-1 mutants.
- Subjects :
- Plexin
animal structures
Mutant
Green Fluorescent Proteins
Morphogenesis
Nerve Tissue Proteins
Receptors, Cell Surface
Semaphorins
Cell fate determination
semaphorin
Vulva
Animals, Genetically Modified
Semaphorin
Precursor cell
Animals
Genitalia
Transgenes
Caenorhabditis elegans
Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins
Molecular Biology
Microscopy, Confocal
biology
urogenital system
Stem Cells
fungi
Cell Biology
biology.organism_classification
Transmembrane protein
Cell biology
biology.protein
C. elegans
Developmental Biology
Signal Transduction
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 00121606
- Volume :
- 282
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Developmental biology
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....5e12b0d274a4311b746c37a6b46c692f