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Identification of genes expressed in C. elegans touch receptor neurons

Nature volume 418, pages 331–335 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

The extent of gene regulation in cell differentiation is poorly understood. We previously used saturation mutagenesis to identify 18 genes that are needed for the development and function of a single type of sensory neuron—the touch receptor neuron for gentle touch in Caenorhabditis elegans1,2. One of these genes, mec-3, encodes a transcription factor that controls touch receptor differentiation3,4. By culturing and isolating wild-type and mec-3 mutant cells from embryos and applying their amplified RNA to DNA microarrays, here we have identified genes that are known to be expressed in touch receptors, a previously uncloned gene (mec-17) that is needed for maintaining touch receptor differentiation2,5, and more than 50 previously unknown mec-3-dependent genes. These genes are randomly distributed in the genome and under-represented both for genes that are co-expressed in operons and for multiple members of gene families. Using regions 5′ of the start codon of the first 20 genes, we have also identified an over-represented heptanucleotide, AATGCAT, that is needed for the expression of touch receptor genes6.

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Figure 1: Morphology and gene expression of cultured C. elegans cells.
Figure 3: Newly identified mec-3-dependent genes.
Figure 2: The MEC-3::UNC-86 binding site.

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Acknowledgements

We thank X. Chen for help with analysis of the microarray data; M. Goodman for constructing the integrated mec-18::gfp strain; B. Tycko for the LightCycler; and E. Schwarz, J. Wang and J. Eberwine for discussion. This work was supported by a grant from the National Center for Research Resources to S.K.K. and a grant from the National Institutes of Health to M.C.

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  1. Thomas Delohery

    Present address: Aventis Pharmaceuticals, 1041 Rt. 202-206, Bridgewater, New Jersey, 08807-0800, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, New York, 10027, USA

    Yun Zhang, Charles Ma, Brian Nasipak, Barrett C. Foat, Alexander Bounoutas, Harmen J. Bussemaker & Martin Chalfie

  2. Memorial Sloan Kettering Institute, New York, New York, 10021, USA

    Thomas Delohery

  3. Department of Developmental Biology and Genetics, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, California, 94305, USA

    Stuart K. Kim

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Correspondence to Martin Chalfie.

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Zhang, Y., Ma, C., Delohery, T. et al. Identification of genes expressed in C. elegans touch receptor neurons. Nature 418, 331–335 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature00891

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