The C. elegans developmental timing protein LIN-42 regulates diapause in response to environmental cues.

ABSTRACT: Environmental conditions can have a major impact on developmental progression in animals. For example, when C. elegans larvae encounter harsh conditions they can reversibly halt the passage of developmental time by forming a long-lived dauer larva at the end of the second larval stage. Here, we show that the period homolog lin-42, known to control developmental time, also acts as a component of a switch that mediates dauer entry. Loss of lin-42 function renders animals hypersensitive to dauer formation under stressful conditions, whereas misexpression of lin-42 in the pre-dauer stage inhibits dauer formation, indicating that lin-42 acts as a negative regulator of this life history decision. These phenotypes place LIN-42 in opposition to the ligand-free form of the nuclear receptor DAF-12,

SUBMITTER: Tennessen JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2947761 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature