Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-1994
Publication Title
Development (Cambridge, England)
Department
Department of Biological Sciences
Abstract
In the 4-cell Caenorhabditis elegans embryo, two blastomeres are destined to generate pharyngeal cells, each by a distinct developmental strategy: one pathway is inductive, while the other is autonomous. Here, we identify the pha-4 locus. In animals lacking pha-4 activity, an early step in pharyngeal organogenesis is blocked: no pharyngeal primordium is formed and differentiated pharyngeal cells are absent. Most other tissues are generated normally in pha-4 mutants, including cells related to pharyngeal cells by cell lineage and position. Thus, pha-4 activity is required to form the pharyngeal primordium. We propose that pha-4 marks a convergence of the inductive and autonomous pathways of pharyngeal development and suggest that establishment of pharyngeal organ identity is a crucial step for pharyngeal organogenesis.
Dartmouth Digital Commons Citation
Mango, Susan E.; Lambie, Eric J.; and Kimble, Judith, "The PHA-4 Gene is Required to Generate the Pharyngeal Primordium of Caenorhabditis-Elegans" (1994). Dartmouth Scholarship. 755.
https://digitalcommons.dartmouth.edu/facoa/755
