Abstract
During the development of the egg-laying system in Caenorhabditis elegans hermaphrodites, central gonadal cells organize the alignment of the vulva with the sex myoblasts, the progenitors of the egg-laying muscles. A fibroblast growth factor [EGL-17(FGF)] and an FGF receptor [EGL-15(FGFR)] are involved in the gonadal signals that guide the migrations of the sex myoblasts. Here we show that EGL-17(FGF) can act as an instructive guidance cue to direct the sex myoblasts to their final destinations. We find that egl-17 reporter constructs are expressed in the primary vulval cell and that EGL-17(FGF) expression in this cell correlates with the precise positioning of the sex myoblasts. We postulate that EGL-17(FGF) helps to coordinate the development of a functional egg-laying system, linking vulval induction with proper sex myoblast migration.
Publication types
-
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
-
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
MeSH terms
-
Animals
-
Caenorhabditis elegans / cytology
-
Caenorhabditis elegans / genetics*
-
Caenorhabditis elegans / growth & development*
-
Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins*
-
Cell Movement / genetics
-
Female
-
Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
-
Genes, Helminth
-
Genes, Reporter
-
Genitalia, Female / cytology
-
Genitalia, Female / growth & development
-
Green Fluorescent Proteins
-
Growth Substances / genetics*
-
Helminth Proteins / genetics*
-
Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins*
-
Luminescent Proteins / genetics
-
Male
-
Models, Biological
-
Muscle Development
-
Muscles / cytology
-
Mutation
-
Stem Cells / cytology
-
Vulva / cytology
-
Vulva / growth & development*
Substances
-
Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins
-
Egl-17 protein, C elegans
-
Growth Substances
-
Helminth Proteins
-
Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
-
Luminescent Proteins
-
Green Fluorescent Proteins