(Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1985-05)
Ferguson, Edwin Louis
The cell lineages of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegana are
essentially invariant among individuals. We have begun an attempt to
understand the genetic specification of one particular cell lineage,
that of the hermaphrodite vulva. During vulval development, six
equipotentlal cells of the ventral hypodermis respond to an inductive
signal from the gonadal anchor cell to adopt one of three fates
dependent upon position. Thus, the vulva is a model system to study
the processes of induction and pattern formation at the level of
individual cells.
We have isolated over 100 mutants, defining 26 genes, that are
abnormal in the vulval cell lineages. These mutants have one of two
phenotypes: Vulvaless hermaphrodites lack a vulva; Multivulva
hermaphrodites have supernumerary pseudovulvae. Our analysis suggests
that we may have identified most, or all, genes that can mutate to a
Multivulva or Vulvaless phenotype.
We have constructed a genetic pathway of vulval development. Three
genes affect the production of vulval precursor cells; one gene affects
the formation of the anchor cell; 15 genas are involved in the
determination of the fates of the vulval precursor cells in response to
the inductive signal; and three genea are necessary for the execution
of the vulval cell fates.
