A BMP homolog acts as a dose-dependent regulator of body size and male tail patterning in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Development (Cambridge, England) ·Vol. 126 ·No. 2 ·1999-01-00 ·Pages 241-50

Suzuki Y, Yandell MD, Roy PJ, Krishna S, Savage-Dunn C, Ross RM, Padgett RW, Wood WB

Abstract

We cloned the dbl-1 gene, a C. elegans homolog of Drosophila decapentaplegic and vertebrate BMP genes. Loss-of-function mutations in dbl-1 cause markedly reduced body size and defective male copulatory structures. Conversely, dbl-1 overexpression causes markedly increased body size and partly complementary male tail phenotypes, indicating that DBL-1 acts as a dose-dependent regulator of these processes. Evidence from genetic interactions indicates that these effects are mediated by a Smad signaling pathway, for which DBL-1 is a previously unidentified ligand. Our study of the dbl-1 expression pattern suggests a role for neuronal cells in global size regulation as well as male tail patterning.

MeSH Terms

Amino Acid Sequence Animals Base Sequence Body Constitution/genetics Body Patterning/genetics Bone Morphogenetic Proteins/genetics Caenorhabditis elegans/embryology Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins Cloning, Molecular Disorders of Sex Development/genetics Epistasis, Genetic Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental/genetics Genes, Reporter/genetics Genitalia/growth & development Male Molecular Sequence Data Mutation/genetics Neurons/metabolism Neuropeptides/genetics Phenotype Phylogeny RNA, Messenger/genetics Sequence Analysis, DNA Sequence Homology, Amino Acid Tail/growth & development Transforming Growth Factor beta

Chemicals

Bone Morphogenetic Proteins Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins Dbl-1 protein, C elegans Neuropeptides RNA, Messenger Transforming Growth Factor beta

Authors & Affiliations

8 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID

Suzuki Y

Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0347, USA. wood@stripe. colorado.edu

Yandell M D

Roy P J

Krishna S

Savage-Dunn C

Ross R M

Padgett R W

Wood W B

Article Info

Journal

Development (Cambridge, England)

Abbr.

Development

ISSN

0950-1991

Published

1999-01-00

Pages

241-50

Language

English

Region

England

NLM ID

8701744

Subset

External Links

PubMed source View journal details

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A BMP homolog acts as a dose-dependent regulator of body size and male tail patterning in Caenorhabditis elegans.

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