The Role of sptf-3 in C. elegans Growth and Development
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Date
2011-06
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
The Sp family of transcription factors has important functions during development in animals. In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans there are three Sp-related transcription factors (Sptf) which perform similarly important roles in development. The purpose of this project is to learn more about SPTF-3 in C. elegans. Worms with a mutation in sptf-3 exhibit embryonic lethality, reduced fertility, and a bivulva phenotype that may result from abnormal vulval development. The first goal of this project was to identify the role of SPTF-3 in the differentiation of egg-laying system cells. Transgenic expression of genes in wild-type worms was compared to expression of the same genes in sptf-3 mutants. In both uterine and vulval tissues, improper expression of genes occurs in sptf-3 mutant background. These alterations suggest that inappropriate differentiation of cells is occurring in worms with the mutant protein. The second goal of this project is to identify the source of the morphological defects of sptf-3 mutants. Tissue-specific RNAi was used to reduce the expression of SPTF-3 under three conditions: all cell types, germline cells only, and somatic cells only. A proportion of embryonic lethality resulted in the conditions where protein expression was reduced in all cell types and in germline cells only. This suggests that knockdown of sptf-3 in the germline causes observed somatic abnormalities in affected worms. The third goal of this project is to gain insight into the in-vivo function of the SPTF-3 protein. This is being done by introducing the mutant form of the protein into wild-type worms, to determine whether the mutant protein can compete with the wild-type protein in-vivo. The results of this study could provide more information about SPTF proteins in C. elegans as well as Sp transcription factors as a whole.
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Keywords
C. elegans, development, transcription factors, SP, sptf-3