B. Jungblut et Rj. Sommer, The nematode even-skipped homolog vab-7 regulates gonad and vulva positionin Pristionchus pacificus, DEVELOPMENT, 128(2), 2001, pp. 253-261
In free-living nematodes, developmental processes like the formation of the
vulva, can be studied at a cellular level, Cell lineage and ablation studi
es have been carried out in various nematode species and multiple changes i
n vulval patterning have been identified. In Pristionchus pacificus, vulva
formation differs from Caenorhabditis elegans with respect to several auton
omous and conditional aspects of cell fate specification. To understand the
molecular basis of these evolutionary changes, we have performed a genetic
analysis of vulva formation in I! pacificus. Here, we describe two mutants
where the vulva is shifted posteriorly, affecting which precursor cells wi
ll form vulval tissue in P! pacificus, Mutant animals show a concomitant po
sterior displacement of the gonadal anchor cell, indicating that the gonad
and the vulva are affected in a similar way. We show that mutations in the
even-skipped homolog of nematodes, vab-7, cause these posterior displacemen
ts. In addition, cell ablation studies in the vab-7 mutant indicate that th
e altered position of the gonad not only changes the cell fate pattern but
also the developmental competence of vulval precursor cells. Investigation
of Cel-vab-7 mutant animals showed a similar but weaker vulva defective phe
notype to the one described for Ppa-vab-7.