gob-1 is a trehalose -6 -phosphate phosphatase required for intestine development in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.

摘要

A genetic screen was developed with the intention of finding C. elegans genes that are required for intestine development or differentiation. The screen was based on the gut obstructed phenotype of the elt-2 null mutant. elt-2 is a GATA transcription factor believed to be the major transcription factor driving intestine differentiation. It was anticipated that screening for a similar gut obstructed mutant phenotype could identify genes that were functioning redundantly to elt-2 or downstream of elt-2. One of the mutations identified in this screen, gob-1(ca17), was mapped to the right-hand side of the X chromosome. Positional cloning of the gob-1(ca17) allele showed that it was a deletion of approximately 15 open reading frames. RNA-mediated interference to a gene in this region, H13N06.3, phenocopied the early larval arrest and gut obstructed phenotype of gob-1(ca17) and was thus identified as the gene responsible for this phenotype. The gob-1 RNAi mutant causes an early defect in the intestine. The gob-1 gene and GOB-1 protein are expressed specifically in the intestine during its early development. GOB-1 is a member of the Haloacid dehalogenase (HAD)-like hydrolase superfamily and is the first identified trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase in the nematode phylum. GOB-1's function in trehalose metabolism is currently unclear but mounting evidence suggests that GOB-1 may have a function required for viability of the worm independent of trehalose synthesis. ELT-2 is sufficient but not necessary for early embryonic expression of GOB-1. The ability of ELT-2 to drive gob-1 expression suggests that loss of gob-1 function may be a component of the later elt-2 loss of function defect in the larval intestine.