In Caenorhabditis elegans, the DBL-1 pathway, a BMP/TGFβ-related signaling cascade, regulates body size and male tail development. We have cloned a new gene, sma-9, that encodes the C. elegans homolog of Schnurri, a large zinc finger transcription factor that regulates dpp target genes in Drosophila. Genetic interactions, the sma-9 loss-of-function phenotype, and the expression pattern suggest that sma-9 acts as a downstream component and is required in the DBL-1 signaling pathway, and thus provide the first evidence of a conserved role for Schnurri proteins in BMP signaling. Analysis of sma-9 mutant phenotypes demonstrates that SMA-9 activity is temporally and spatially restricted relative to known DBL-1 pathway components. In contrast with Drosophila schnurri, the presence of multiple alternatively spliced sma-9 transcripts suggests protein isoforms with potentially different cell sublocalization and molecular functions. We propose that SMA-9 isoforms function as transcriptional cofactors that confer specific responses to DBL-1 pathway activation.
The Caenorhabditis elegans schnurri homolog sma-9mediates stage- and cell type-specific responses to DBL-1 BMP-related signaling
Jun Liang, Robyn Lints, Marisa L. Foehr, Rafal Tokarz, Ling Yu, Scott W. Emmons, Jun Liu, Cathy Savage-Dunn; The Caenorhabditis elegans schnurri homolog sma-9mediates stage- and cell type-specific responses to DBL-1 BMP-related signaling. Development 29 December 2003; 130 (26): 6453–6464. doi: https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.00863
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