|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
| Home Help Feedback Subscriptions Archive Search Table of Contents | ||||
doi: 10.1242/10.1242/dev.00330
Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Kyushu University Graduate
School, Hakozaki, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan
* Present address: Research Institute of Microbial Diseases, Osaka University,
Yamadaoka, Suita 565-0871, Japan
Author for correspondence (e-mail:
yohshscb{at}mbox.nc.kyushu-u.ac.jp)
Accepted 6 December 2002
We designed an automatic system to measure body length, diameters and volume of a C. elegans worm. By using this system, mutants with an increased body volume exceeding 50% were isolated. Four of them are grossly normal in morphology and development, grow longer to be almost twice as big, and have weak egg-laying defects and extended lifespan. All the four mutants have a mutation in the egl-4 gene. We show that the egl-4 gene encodes cGMP-dependent protein kinases. egl-4 promoter::gfp fusion genes are mainly expressed in head neurons, hypodermis, intestine and body wall muscles. Procedures to analyze morphology and volume of major organs were developed. The results indicate that volumes of intestine, hypodermis and muscle and cell volumes in intestine and muscle are increased in the egl-4 mutants, whereas cell numbers are not. Experiments on genetic interaction suggest that the cGMP-EGL-4 signaling pathway represses body size and lifespan through DBL-1/TGF-ß and insulin pathways, respectively.
Key words: cGMP-dependent protein kinase, Body size, Lifespan, C. elegans, EGL-4, Big mutant
CiteULike 
Complore 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us 
Digg 
Reddit 
Technorati 
Twitter What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  A. M. van der Linden, S. Wiener, Y.-j. You, K. Kim, L. Avery, and P. Sengupta The EGL-4 PKG Acts With KIN-29 Salt-Inducible Kinase and Protein Kinase A to Regulate Chemoreceptor Gene Expression and Sensory Behaviors in Caenorhabditis elegans Genetics, November 1, 2008; 180(3): 1475 - 1491. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 N. Fielenbach and A. Antebi C. elegans dauer formation and the molecular basis of plasticity Genes & Dev., August 15, 2008; 22(16): 2149 - 2165. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 R. L. Hong, H. Witte, and R. J. Sommer Natural variation in Pristionchus pacificus insect pheromone attraction involves the protein kinase EGL-4 PNAS, June 3, 2008; 105(22): 7779 - 7784. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 G. McColl, D. W. Killilea, A. E. Hubbard, M. C. Vantipalli, S. Melov, and G. J. Lithgow Pharmacogenetic Analysis of Lithium-induced Delayed Aging in Caenorhabditis elegans J. Biol. Chem., January 4, 2008; 283(1): 350 - 357. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
I. Aladzsity, M. L. Toth, T. Sigmond, E. Szabo, B. Bicsak, J. Barna, A. Regos, L. Orosz, A. L. Kovacs, and T. Vellai Autophagy Genes unc-51 and bec-1 Are Required for Normal Cell Size in Caenorhabditis elegans Genetics, September 1, 2007; 177(1): 655 - 660. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 N. Watanabe, T. Ishihara, and Y. Ohshima Mutants carrying two sma mutations are super small in the nematode C. elegans Genes Cells, May 1, 2007; 12(5): 603 - 609. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D. M. Raizen, K. M. Cullison, A. I. Pack, and M. V. Sundaram A Novel Gain-of-Function Mutant of the Cyclic GMP-Dependent Protein Kinase egl-4 Affects Multiple Physiological Processes in Caenorhabditis elegans Genetics, May 1, 2006; 173(1): 177 - 187. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 F. Hofmann, R. Feil, T. Kleppisch, and J. Schlossmann Function of cGMP-Dependent Protein Kinases as Revealed by Gene Deletion Physiol Rev, January 1, 2006; 86(1): 1 - 23. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J. K. Rose, S. Sangha, S. Rai, K. R. Norman, and C. H. Rankin Decreased Sensory Stimulation Reduces Behavioral Responding, Retards Development, and Alters Neuronal Connectivity in Caenorhabditis elegans J. Neurosci., August 3, 2005; 25(31): 7159 - 7168. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 N. Watanabe, Y. Nagamatsu, K. Gengyo-Ando, S. Mitani, and Y. Ohshima Control of body size by SMA-5, a homolog of MAP kinase BMK1/ERK5, in C. elegans Development, July 15, 2005; 132(14): 3175 - 3184. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Y. Nakano, Y. Nagamatsu, and Y. Ohshima cGMP and a germ-line signal control body size in C. elegans through cGMP-dependent protein kinase EGL-4 Genes Cells, September 1, 2004; 9(9): 773 - 779. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Y. Nagamatsu and Y. Ohshima Mechanisms for the control of body size by a G-kinase and a downstream TGF{beta} signal pathway in Caenorhabditis elegans Genes Cells, January 1, 2004; 9(1): 39 - 47. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. Ailion and J. H. Thomas Isolation and Characterization of High-Temperature-Induced Dauer Formation Mutants in Caenorhabditis elegans Genetics, September 1, 2003; 165(1): 127 - 144. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
