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The RHO-1 RhoGTPase modulates fertility and multiple behaviors in adult C. elegans.

McMullan, R; Nurrish, SJ; (2011) The RHO-1 RhoGTPase modulates fertility and multiple behaviors in adult C. elegans. PLOS One , 6 (2) , Article e17265. 10.1371/journal.pone.0017265. Green open access

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Abstract

The Rho family of small GTPases are essential during early embryonic development making it difficult to study their functions in adult animals. Using inducible transgenes expressing either a constitutively active version of the single C. elegans Rho ortholog, RHO-1, or an inhibitor of endogenous Rho (C3 transferase), we demonstrate multiple defects caused by altering Rho signaling in adult C. elegans. Changes in RHO-1 signaling in cholinergic neurons affected locomotion, pharyngeal pumping and fecundity. Changes in RHO-1 signaling outside the cholinergic neurons resulted in defective defecation, ovulation, and changes in C. elegans body morphology. Finally both increased and decreased RHO-1 signaling in adults resulted in death within hours. The multiple post-developmental roles for Rho in C. elegans demonstrate that RhoA signaling pathways continue to be used post-developmentally and the resulting phenotypes provide an opportunity to further study post-developmental Rho signaling pathways using genetic screens.

Type: Article
Title: The RHO-1 RhoGTPase modulates fertility and multiple behaviors in adult C. elegans.
Location: United States
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0017265
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0017265
Language: English
Additional information: © 2011 McMullan, Nurrish. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This work was funded by a core grant to the MRC Cell Biology Unit from the UK Medical Research Council. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Keywords: Age Factors, Aging, Animals, Animals, Genetically Modified, Behavior, Animal, Caenorhabditis elegans, Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins, Fertility, Gagging, Gene Expression Regulation, Heat-Shock Response, Signal Transduction, rho GTP-Binding Proteins, rhoA GTP-Binding Protein
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1368683
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