scholarly journals Regulation of Fat Storage and Reproduction by Krüppel-Like Transcription Factor KLF3 and Fat-Associated Genes in Caenorhabditis elegans

2011 ◽  
Vol 411 (3) ◽  
pp. 537-553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Zhang ◽  
Razan Bakheet ◽  
Ranjit S. Parhar ◽  
Cheng-Han Huang ◽  
M. Mahmood Hussain ◽  
...  
Genetics ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 165 (3) ◽  
pp. 1623-1628
Author(s):  
Hediye Nese Cinar ◽  
Keri L Richards ◽  
Kavita S Oommen ◽  
Anna P Newman

Abstract We isolated egl-13 mutants in which the cells of the Caenorhabditis elegans uterus initially appeared to develop normally but then underwent an extra round of cell division. The data suggest that egl-13 is required for maintenance of the cell fate.


Genetics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anjali Sandhu ◽  
Divakar Badal ◽  
Riya Sheokand ◽  
Shalini Tyagi ◽  
Varsha Singh

Abstract Collagen enriched cuticle forms the outermost layer of skin in nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. The nematode’s genome encodes 177 collagens, but little is known about their role in maintaining the structure or barrier function of the cuticle. In this study, we found six permeability determining (PD) collagens. Loss of any of these PD collagens- DPY-2, DPY-3, DPY-7, DPY-8, DPY-9, and DPY-10- led to enhanced susceptibility of nematodes to paraquat (PQ) and antihelminthic drugs levamisole and ivermectin. Upon exposure to paraquat, PD collagen mutants accumulated more PQ and incurred more damage and death despite the robust activation of antioxidant machinery. We find that BLMP-1, a zinc finger transcription factor, maintains the barrier function of the cuticle by regulating the expression of PD collagens. We show that the permeability barrier maintained by PD collagens acts in parallel to FOXO transcription factor DAF-16 to enhance survival of insulin-like receptor mutant, daf-2. In all, this study shows that PD collagens regulate cuticle permeability by maintaining the structure of C. elegans cuticle and thus provide protection against exogenous toxins.


BioMetals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yijie Mao ◽  
Ling Yao ◽  
Xuejun Jiang ◽  
Golamaully Sumayyah ◽  
Zhen Zou ◽  
...  

Development ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 147 (14) ◽  
pp. dev190330
Author(s):  
Brett R. Lancaster ◽  
James D. McGhee

ABSTRACTWe define a quantitative relationship between the affinity with which the intestine-specific GATA factor ELT-2 binds to cis-acting regulatory motifs and the resulting transcription of asp-1, a target gene representative of genes involved in Caenorhabditis elegans intestine differentiation. By establishing an experimental system that allows unknown parameters (e.g. the influence of chromatin) to effectively cancel out, we show that levels of asp-1 transcripts increase monotonically with increasing binding affinity of ELT-2 to variant promoter TGATAA sites. The shape of the response curve reveals that the product of the unbound ELT-2 concentration in vivo [i.e. (ELT-2free) or ELT-2 ‘activity’] and the largest ELT-XXTGATAAXX association constant (Kmax) lies between five and ten. We suggest that this (unitless) product [Kmax×(ELT-2free) or the equivalent product for any other transcription factor] provides an important quantitative descriptor of transcription-factor/regulatory-motif interaction in development, evolution and genetic disease. A more complicated model than simple binding affinity is necessary to explain the fact that ELT-2 appears to discriminate in vivo against equal-affinity binding sites that contain AGATAA instead of TGATAA.


eLife ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian A Steiner ◽  
Steven Henikoff

Centromeres vary greatly in size and sequence composition, ranging from ‘point’ centromeres with a single cenH3-containing nucleosome to ‘regional’ centromeres embedded in tandemly repeated sequences to holocentromeres that extend along the length of entire chromosomes. Point centromeres are defined by sequence, whereas regional and holocentromeres are epigenetically defined by the location of cenH3-containing nucleosomes. In this study, we show that Caenorhabditis elegans holocentromeres are organized as dispersed but discretely localized point centromeres, each forming a single cenH3-containing nucleosome. These centromeric sites co-localize with kinetochore components, and their occupancy is dependent on the cenH3 loading machinery. These sites coincide with non-specific binding sites for multiple transcription factors (‘HOT’ sites), which become occupied when cenH3 is lost. Our results show that the point centromere is the basic unit of holocentric organization in support of the classical polycentric model for holocentromeres, and provide a mechanistic basis for understanding how centromeric chromatin might be maintained.


Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyemin Min ◽  
Esther Youn ◽  
Yhong-Hee Shim

During pregnancy, most women are exposed to caffeine, which is a widely consumed psychoactive substance. However, the consequences of maternal caffeine intake on the child remain largely unknown. Here, we investigated the intergenerational effects of maternal caffeine intake on offspring in a Caenorhabditis elegans model. We treated a young mother (P0) with 10 mM of caffeine equivalent to 2–5 cans of commercial energy drinks and examined its reproduction and growth rate from P0 to F2 generation. The fertility decreased and embryonic lethality increased by defective oocytes and eggshell integrity in caffeine-ingested mothers, and F1 larval development severely retarded. These results were due to decreased production of vitellogenin protein (yolk) in caffeine-ingested mothers. Furthermore, effects of RNA interference of vitellogenin (vit) genes, vit-1 to vit-6, in P0 mothers can mimic those by caffeine-ingested mothers. In addition, RNA interference (RNAi) depletion of unc-62 (human Meis homeobox), a transcriptional activator for vit genes, also showed similar effects induced by caffeine intake. Taken together, maternal caffeine intake reduced yolk production mediated by the UNC-62 transcription factor, thereby disrupting oocyte and eggshell integrity and retarding larval development. Our study suggests the clinical significance of caffeine intake for prospective mothers.


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