Mf. Maduro et al., The UNC-119 family of neural proteins is functionally conserved between humans, Drosophila and C-elegans, J NEUROGEN, 13(4), 2000, pp. 191
C. elegans animals mutant for the unc-119 gene exhibit movement, sensory an
d behavioral abnormalities. Consistent with a nervous system role, unc-119
reporter genes are expressed throughout the C. elegans nervous system. The
UNC-119 protein has strong sequence similarity to the predicted protein fro
m a human gene, HRG4/HsUNC-119, whose transcript is abundant in the retina.
Using these similarities, we have identified a Drosphila homolog. DmUNC-11
9, which is expressed in the Drosophila nervous system. The pre-dieted C. e
legans, human and Drosophila gene products are conserved across two domains
. Expression of portions of HRG4/HsUNC-119 or DmUNC-119, directed by the un
c-119 promoter, can fully rescue the C. elegans unc-119 mutant phenotype. W
e rested the ability of portions of HRG4/HsUNC-119 to rescue, and found tha
t its function in C. elegans requires the conserved carboxyl terminus, whil
e the dissimilar amino terminus is dispensable. UNC-119, HRG4 and DmUNC-119
constitute members of a new class of neural genes whose common function ha
s been maintained through metazoan evolution.