Endoderm development in Caenorhabditis elegans: the synergistic action of ELT-2 and -7 mediates the specification→differentiation transition.

ABSTRACT: The transition from specification of cell identity to the differentiation of cells into an appropriate and enduring state is critical to the development of embryos. Transcriptional profiling in Caenorhabditis elegans has revealed a large number of genes that are expressed in the fully differentiated intestine; however, no regulatory factor has been found to be essential to initiate their expression once the endoderm has been specified. These gut-expressed genes possess a preponderance of GATA factor binding sites and one GATA factor, ELT-2, fulfills the expected characteristics of a key regulator of these genes based on its persistent expression exclusively in the developing and differentiated intestine and its ability to bind these regulatory sites. However, a striking characteristic of e

SUBMITTER: Sommermann EM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3142750 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature