Somatic gonad morphogenesis in C. elegans requires the heterochronic pathway acting through HBL-1.

ABSTRACT: Heterochronic genes are known for acting in succession to control the timing of stage-specific events of the developing Caenorhabditis elegans larva. While most heterochronic mutants have normal gonad development, in a few cases, defective timing regulators lead to variations in gonad development, although with little to no effect on fertility. We found that a double mutant of 2 heterochronic genes, a lin-28 null allele and hbl-1 hypomorphic allele, results in a catastrophic failure of gonad morphogenesis resulting in sterility. This defect includes a high-penetrance disruption of normal gonad arm migration as well as frequent absence of 1 or both spermathecae. We demonstrate that the abnormal gonad morphology and novel sterility phenotype is ultimately due to loss of hbl-1 activity in lar

SUBMITTER: Minutillo M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12506653 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature