The Caenorhabditis elegans vulval morphogenesis gene sqv-4 encodes a UDP-glucose dehydrogenase that is temporally and spatially regulated

AUTOR(ES)

Hwang, Ho-Yon

FONTE

National Academy of Sciences

RESUMO

The development of the Caenorhabditis elegans vulva requires the involution of epithelial cells and provides a model for organ morphogenesis. Mutations in C. elegans sqv (squashed vulva) genes affect both vulval morphogenesis and embryonic development. We found that sqv-4 encodes a protein similar to UDP-glucose dehydrogenases and showed that the SQV-4 protein specifically catalyzes the conversion of UDP-glucose to UDP-glucuronic acid, which is essential for the biosynthesis of chondroitin and heparan sulfate proteoglycans. SQV-4 is expressed in the vulva and in oocytes, among many other cells, and SQV-4 levels are dramatically increased in a specific subset of vulval cells during vulval morphogenesis. We propose that the regulation of UDP-glucuronic acid production in a specific subset of vulval cells helps determine the shape of the vulva.

Documentos Relacionados

• The SQV-1 UDP-glucuronic acid decarboxylase and the SQV-7 nucleotide-sugar transporter may act in the Golgi apparatus to affect Caenorhabditis elegans vulval morphogenesis and embryonic development
• Cloning and endogenous expression of a Eucalyptus grandis UDP-glucose dehydrogenase cDNA
• Novel rkp Gene Clusters of Sinorhizobium meliloti Involved in Capsular Polysaccharide Production and Invasion of the Symbiotic Nodule: the rkpK Gene Encodes a UDP-Glucose Dehydrogenase
• Bacillus subtilis gtaB encodes UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase and is controlled by stationary-phase transcription factor sigma B.
• Cloning of an enzyme that synthesizes a key nucleotide-sugar precursor of hemicellulose biosynthesis from soybean: UDP-glucose dehydrogenase.