Item Type: | Article |
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Title: | The Groucho ortholog UNC-37 interacts with the short Groucho-like protein LSY-22 to control developmental decisions in C. elegans |
Creators Name: | Flowers, E.B., Poole, R.J., Tursun, B., Bashllari, E., Pe'er, I. and Hobert, O. |
Abstract: | Transcriptional co-repressors of the Groucho/TLE family are important regulators of development in many species. A subset of Groucho/TLE family members that lack the C-terminal WD40 domains have been proposed to act as dominant-negative regulators of Groucho/TLE proteins, yet such a role has not been conclusively proven. Through a mutant screen for genes controlling a left/right asymmetric cell fate decision in the nervous system of the nematode C. elegans, we have retrieved loss-of-function alleles in two distinct loci that display identical phenotypes in neuronal fate specification and in other developmental contexts. Using the novel technology of whole-genome sequencing, we find that these loci encode the C. elegans ortholog of Groucho, UNC-37, and, surprisingly, a short Groucho-like protein, LSY-22, that is similar to truncated Groucho proteins in other species. Besides their phenotypic similarities, unc-37 and lsy-22 show genetic interactions and UNC-37 and LSY-22 proteins also physically bind to each other in vivo. Our findings suggest that rather than acting as negative regulators of Groucho, small Groucho-like proteins may promote Groucho function. We propose that Groucho-mediated gene regulatory events involve heteromeric complexes of distinct Groucho-like proteins. |
Keywords: | C. elegans, Left/Right Asymmetry, Neuronal Development, Transcriptional Control, Animals, Caenorhabditis elegans |
Source: | Development |
ISSN: | 0950-1991 |
Publisher: | Company of Biologists |
Volume: | 137 |
Number: | 11 |
Page Range: | 1799-1805 |
Date: | June 2010 |
Official Publication: | https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.046219 |
PubMed: | View item in PubMed |
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