Morphogenesis is a developmental process of shape formation. C. elegans male tail with nine pairs of sensory rays offers a simple model for studying this process. dpy-11 gene is important for this ray formation process since animals with dpy-11 mutation displayed a Ram (R̲a̲y m̲orphology abnormal) phenotype. Examination with different cell-types specific gfp markers revealed abnormal cell shape with different degree of swelling in all these ray cells. dpy-11 was cloned and encoded a thioredoxin-like molecule. With the use of reporter transgene, I have shown that dpy-11 is expressed in the hypodermis from the embryonic to adult stages. This hypodermis-specific expression and defects observed in all three cell types suggest that dpy-11 may function to facilitate communication between thes...[ Read more ]

Morphogenesis is a developmental process of shape formation. C. elegans male tail with nine pairs of sensory rays offers a simple model for studying this process. dpy-11 gene is important for this ray formation process since animals with dpy-11 mutation displayed a Ram (R̲a̲y m̲orphology abnormal) phenotype. Examination with different cell-types specific gfp markers revealed abnormal cell shape with different degree of swelling in all these ray cells. dpy-11 was cloned and encoded a thioredoxin-like molecule. With the use of reporter transgene, I have shown that dpy-11 is expressed in the hypodermis from the embryonic to adult stages. This hypodermis-specific expression and defects observed in all three cell types suggest that dpy-11 may function to facilitate communication between these ray cells. I also showed with an insulin reduction assay that the DPY-11 thioredoxin-like domain has a catalytic activity comparable to an authentic thioredoxin. By expressing a fusion DPY-11 tagged with GFP at the C-terminus, I have examined the subcellular distribution of DPY-11 in the expressing cells. The fluorescent signal was detected in the cytoplasm in a heterogeneous pattern and appeared to be membrane associated. The results suggest that DPY-11 reside in the cytoplasmic compartment for disulfide bond modification. Finally, through genetic analyses of different mutations, potential interaction between DPY-11 molecule and other components in this ray morphogenetic event will also be discussed.