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First published online 13 June 2007
doi: 10.1242/dev.008268

Development 134, 2685-2695 (2007)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2007
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Binary cell fate specification during C. elegans embryogenesis driven by reiterated reciprocal asymmetry of TCF POP-1 and its coactivator ß-catenin SYS-1

Shuyi Huang, Premnath Shetty, Scott M. Robertson and Rueyling Lin*

Department of Molecular Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 6000 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390, USA.

* Author for correspondence (e-mail: rueyling.lin{at}utsouthwestern.edu)

Accepted 15 May 2007

C. elegans embryos exhibit an invariant lineage comprised primarily of a stepwise binary diversification of anterior-posterior (A-P) blastomere identities. This binary cell fate specification requires input from both the Wnt and MAP kinase signaling pathways. The nuclear level of the TCF protein POP-1 is lowered in all posterior cells. We show here that the ß-catenin SYS-1 also exhibits reiterated asymmetry throughout multiple A-P divisions and that this asymmetry is reciprocal to that of POP-1. Furthermore, we show that SYS-1 functions as a coactivator for POP-1, and that the SYS-1-to-POP-1 ratio appears critical for both the anterior and posterior cell fates. A high ratio drives posterior cell fates, whereas a low ratio drives anterior cell fates. We show that the SYS-1 and POP-1 asymmetries are regulated independently, each by a subset of genes in the Wnt/MAP kinase pathways. We propose that two genetic pathways, one increasing SYS-1 and the other decreasing POP-1 levels, robustly elevate the SYS-1-to-POP-1 ratio in the posterior cell, thereby driving A-P differential cell fates.

Key words: C. elegans, TCF/POP-1, ß-catenin/SYS-1, Cell fate specification


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© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2007