Pervasive homeobox gene function in the male-specific nervous system of <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i>.

ABSTRACT: We explore here how neuronal cell type diversity is genetically delineated in the context of the large, but poorly studied male-specific nervous system of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Mostly during postembryonic development, the C. elegans male adds 93 male-specific neurons, falling into 25 cardinal classes, to the predominantly embryonically generated, sex-shared nervous system, comprised of 294 neurons (116 cardinal classes). Using engineered reporter alleles, we investigate here the expression pattern of 40 phylogenetically conserved homeodomain proteins within the male-specific nervous system of C. elegans, demonstrating that in aggregate, the expression of these homeodomain proteins covers each individual male-specific neuron. We show that the male-specifi

SUBMITTER: Fernandez RW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12132218 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature