The enteric nervous system of the C. elegans pharynx is specified by the Sine oculis-like homeobox gene ceh-34.

ABSTRACT: Overarching themes in the terminal differentiation of the enteric nervous system, an autonomously acting unit of animal nervous systems, have so far eluded discovery. We describe here the overall regulatory logic of enteric nervous system differentiation of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans that resides within the foregut (pharynx) of the worm. A C. elegans homolog of the Drosophila Sine oculis homeobox gene, ceh-34, is expressed in all 14 classes of interconnected pharyngeal neurons from their birth throughout their life time, but in no other neuron type of the entire animal. Constitutive and temporally controlled ceh-34 removal shows that ceh-34 is required to initiate and maintain the neuron type-specific terminal differentiation program of al

SUBMITTER: Vidal B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8989417 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature