Caenorhabditis elegans and its congener, C. briggsae are excellent animal models
for the comparative study of developmental mechanisms and gene function. Gupta
lab is using the vulval tissue in these nematodes as a system to investigate conservation
and divergence in signal transduction pathways. Genetic screens conducted
earlier in our laboratory recovered several mutants that cause multivulva (Muv)
phenotype. The Muv genes act as tumor suppressors and negatively regulate the
proliferation of vulval precursors. Genetic and molecular work on these genes has
revealed that C. briggsae vulva developmental utilizes novel genes representing a
new phenotypic class termed ‘Inappropriate Vulva cell Proliferation (IVP)’ (Sharanya
et al., 2015). This indicates that the signaling mechanism in C. briggsae
specifies vulval cell fates differently from C. elegans. Interestingly, it has been
found that Cbr-ivp mutants show higher levels of Cbr-lin-3 (EGF) transcript, indicating
that these genes act genetically upstream of Cbr-lin-3, similar to SynMuv
family members in C. elegans. Moreover, RNAi knockdown of the Cbr-lin-3 transcript
resulted in the suppression of the multivulva phenotype in mutant animals.
Similar suppression was also observed when a MAP kinase inhibitor was used in
the previous study. In addition, the role of two other novel negative regulators of cell
proliferation, Cbr-lin(bh1) and Cbr-lin(bh3) was also investigated. Preliminary
findings on these regulators suggested that both Cbr-lin(bh1) and Cbr-lin(bh3) exhibiting
a heritable Muv phenotype and are found to be located on Chromosome
I and III respectively. Identification of novel genes and further characterization
will help us understand the molecular function of genes and their involvement in
the regulation of vulval cell differentiation. The findings of my research work will
provide a background for future studies to understand the role of novel genes in
reproductive system development. Overall, these results provide evidence that although
the morphology of vulva is similar in the two nematode species, underlying
mechanisms of development appear to have diverged. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/25566 |
| Date | January 2020 |
| Creators | Jain, Ish |
| Contributors | Gupta, Bhagwati, Biology |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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