EAT-20, a Novel Transmembrane Protein With EGF Motifs, Is Required for Efficient Feeding in Caenorhabditis elegans

Corresponding author: Shin Takagi, Division of Biological Science, Nagoya University Graduate School of Science, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan., i45116a{at}nucc.cc.nagoya-u.ac.jp (E-mail)

Communicating editor: R. K. HERMAN

The pharynx of Caenorhabditis elegans is a neuromuscular organ responsible for feeding, concentrating food by its pumping movement. A class of mutants, the eat mutants, are defective in this behavior. We have identified a novel eat gene, eat-20, encoding a unique transmembrane protein with three EGF motifs. Staining with a specific polyclonal antibody reveals that EAT-20 is expressed predominantly in the pharyngeal muscles and a subset of neurons. Some hypodermal cells also express EAT-20. eat-20 mutant animals are starved, have smaller brood sizes, and have prolonged egg-laying periods. The starvation apparently results from pharyngeal pumping defects, including a reduced pumping rate and "slippery pumping," in which the contents of the pharynx sometimes move rostrally. However, electrical activity of eat-20 mutants appears normal by electropharyngeogram.

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