POWRE: TGFB Signaling in the Egg-Laying System of C. elegans

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This POWRE Research Enhancement award willprovide the investigator the opportunity to do pilot work on an unstudied branch of a TGFb-like signaling pathway. Transforming growth factor beta (TGFb) superfamily ligands play important roles in the development and physiology of diverse tissues by controlling cell growth, cell death, and differentiation. To understand how TGFb and related growth factors exert their effects the signal transduction pathway must be known. The long-term objective of this project is the elucidation of TGFb signaling pathways in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, using molecular biological and genetic approaches. Besides several well-characterized roles of TGFb signaling in C. elegans development, some mutants reveal an additional role in the egg laying system. The investigator proposes to study the role of TGFb signaling in egg laying and identify a genetic pathway for this function. The investigator therefore proposes, first, to map these genes to a precise location in preparation for their molecular cloning. Second, the investigator will characterize the egg-laying defective phenotype of TGFb pathway mutants and its responsiveness to environmental stimuli. Finally, the investigator will determine whether other known egg-laying defective mutants represent genes that function in the same pathway. Although the molecular cloning of these genes is beyond the scope of this proposal, the genetic characterization described here will define a branch of this signaling pathway and provide the basis for future molecular characterization. Furthermore, by studying a branch of a TGFb pathway in its developmental context, the investigator hopes to understand the mechanisms of signaling specificity and crosstalk.