Identification of Genes That Regulate a Left-Right Asymmetric Neuronal Migration in Caenorhabditis elegans

Identification of Genes That Regulate a Left-Right Asymmetric Neuronal Migration in Caenorhabditis elegans

QueeLim Ch'ng^a, Lisa Williams^a, Yung S. Lie^a, Mary Sym^a, Jennifer Whangbo^a, and Cynthia Kenyon^a
^a Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143-0448

Corresponding author: Cynthia Kenyon, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, 513 Parnassus Ave., San Francisco, CA 94143-0448., ckenyon{at}biochem.ucsf.edu (E-mail)

Communicating editor: P. ANDERSON

In C. elegans, cells of the QL and QR neuroblast lineages migratewith left-right asymmetry; QL and its descendants migrate posteriorlywhereas QR and its descendants migrate anteriorly. One key stepin generating this asymmetry is the expression of the Hox genemab-5 in the QL descendants but not in the QR descendants. Thisasymmetry appears to be coupled to the asymmetric polarizationsand movements of QL and QR as they migrate and relies on anasymmetric response to an EGL-20/Wnt signal. To identify genesinvolved in these complex layers of regulation and to isolatetargets of mab-5 that direct posterior migrations, we screenedvisually for mutants with cell migration defects in the QL andQR lineages. Here, we describe a set of new mutants (qid-5,qid-6, qid-7, and qid-8) that primarily disrupt the migrationsof the QL descendants. Most of these mutants were defectivein mab-5 expression in the QL lineage and might identify genesthat interact directly or indirectly with the EGL-20/Wnt signalingpathway.

This article has been cited by other articles:

H. Deng, D. Xia, B. Fang, and H. Zhang
The Flightless I Homolog, fli-1, Regulates Anterior/Posterior Polarity, Asymmetric Cell Division and Ovulation During Caenorhabditis elegans Development
Genetics, October 1, 2007; 177(2): 847 - 860.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

B. Itoh, T. Hirose, N. Takata, K. Nishiwaki, M. Koga, Y. Ohshima, and M. Okada
SRC-1, a non-receptor type of protein tyrosine kinase, controls the direction of cell and growth cone migration in C. elegans
Development, December 1, 2005; 132(23): 5161 - 5172.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

B. D. Ackley, R. J. Harrington, M. L. Hudson, L. Williams, C. J. Kenyon, A. D. Chisholm, and Y. Jin
The Two Isoforms of the Caenorhabditis elegans Leukocyte-Common Antigen Related Receptor Tyrosine Phosphatase PTP-3 Function Independently in Axon Guidance and Synapse Formation
J. Neurosci., August 17, 2005; 25(33): 7517 - 7528.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

L. Yang, M. Sym, and C. Kenyon
The roles of two C. elegans HOX co-factor orthologs in cell migration and vulva development
Development, March 15, 2005; 132(6): 1413 - 1428.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. Itoh, T. Hirose, N. Takata, K. Nishiwaki, M. Koga, Y. Ohshima, and M. Okada SRC-1, a non-receptor type of protein tyrosine kinase, controls the direction of cell and growth cone migration in C. elegans Development, December 1, 2005; 132(23): 5161 - 5172. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. D. Ackley, R. J. Harrington, M. L. Hudson, L. Williams, C. J. Kenyon, A. D. Chisholm, and Y. Jin The Two Isoforms of the Caenorhabditis elegans Leukocyte-Common Antigen Related Receptor Tyrosine Phosphatase PTP-3 Function Independently in Axon Guidance and Synapse Formation J. Neurosci., August 17, 2005; 25(33): 7517 - 7528. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. Yang, M. Sym, and C. Kenyon The roles of two C. elegans HOX co-factor orthologs in cell migration and vulva development Development, March 15, 2005; 132(6): 1413 - 1428. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]