Program of the 2004 East Coast Worm Meeting - Caenorhabditis ...

9. EFL-1 and DPL-1 Activate Genes Required for Oogenesis and Proper Embryonic
Specification in the Maternal Germline
Woo Chi, Valerie Reinke
Department of Genetics Yale University School of Medicine 333 Cedar Street New Haven, CT
06520
E2F, a heterodimer consisting of an E2F and a DP subunit, is a sequence-specific transcription
factor that regulates genes required for DNA synthesis and cell proliferation during the G1-S
transition in the mammalian cell cycle. In C. elegans, dpl-1(DP-like) and efl-1(E2F-like) have been
shown to function in both embryonic development and vulval development (Page et al., 2001;
Coel and Horvitz, 2001). A null mutation in dpl-1 results in embryonic lethality at (or prior to) the
one-cell stage, while a strong loss-of-function or null mutation of efl-1 causes embryonic lethality
with apparent defects in DNA replication and cell division. We wished to identify transcriptional
target genes of dpl-1 and efl-1 in the maternal germline and to investigate their roles in germline
and embryonic development.
Microarray analysis comparing dissected young adult gonads from dpl-1(n3316) or efl-1(n3639)
to wild type show a highly significant target gene overlap (p