Protein interaction mapping in C-elegans using proteins involved in vulvaldevelopment

Protein interaction mapping using large-scale two-hybrid analysis has been proposed as a way to functionally annotate large numbers of uncharacterized proteins predicted by complete genome sequences. This approach was examine d in Caenorhabditis elegans, starting with 27 proteins involved in vulval d evelopment. The resulting map reveals both known and new potential interact ions and provides a functional annotation for approximately 100 uncharacter ized gene products. A protein interaction mapping project is now feasible f or C. elegans on a genome-wide scale and should contribute to the understan ding of molecular mechanisms in this organism and in human diseases.