Two distinct types of neuronal asymmetries are controlled by the Caenorhabditis elegans zinc finger transcription factor die-1

Left/right asymmetric features of animals are either randomly distributed on either the left or right side within a population ("antisymmetries") or found stereotypically on one particular side of an animal ("directional asymmetries"). Both types of asymmetries can be found in ne...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Genes & development 2014-01, Vol.28 (1), p.34-43
Main Authors: Cochella, Luisa, Tursun, Baris, Hsieh, Yi-Wen, Galindo, Samantha, Johnston, Robert J, Chuang, Chiou-Fen, Hobert, Oliver
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Body Patterning - genetics
Caenorhabditis elegans
Caenorhabditis elegans - cytology
Caenorhabditis elegans - genetics
Caenorhabditis elegans - metabolism
Caenorhabditis elegans - physiology
Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins - genetics
Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins - metabolism
Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
Neurons - cytology
Neurons - metabolism
Research Paper
Trans-Activators - metabolism
Transcription Factors - genetics
Transcription Factors - metabolism
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Summary:Left/right asymmetric features of animals are either randomly distributed on either the left or right side within a population ("antisymmetries") or found stereotypically on one particular side of an animal ("directional asymmetries"). Both types of asymmetries can be found in nervous systems, but whether the regulatory programs that establish these asymmetries share any mechanistic features is not known. We describe here an unprecedented molecular link between these two types of asymmetries in Caenorhabditis elegans. The zinc finger transcription factor die-1 is expressed in a directionally asymmetric manner in the gustatory neuron pair ASE left (ASEL) and ASE right (ASER), while it is expressed in an antisymmetric manner in the olfactory neuron pair AWC left (AWCL) and AWC right (AWCR). Asymmetric die-1 expression is controlled in a fundamentally distinct manner in these two neuron pairs. Importantly, asymmetric die-1 expression controls the directionally asymmetric expression of gustatory receptor proteins in the ASE neurons and the antisymmetric expression of olfactory receptor proteins in the AWC neurons. These asymmetries serve to increase the ability of the animal to discriminate distinct chemosensory inputs.
ISSN:0890-9369
1549-5477
DOI:10.1101/gad.233643.113