Genome-wide RNA expression in muscle-enriched embryos across different mutations.

To investigate the structure of the bodywall muscle differentiation network, we sought to both identify what these transcription factors regulate in bodywall muscle. Through loss of function analysis, we identified genome-wide regulatory targets of hlh-1 and unc-120 using RNA-seq. 1445 targets of hlh-1 and 3674 targets of unc-120 were identified, with 760 of these genes being targets of both. Crosstalk was identified between the networks of hlh-1 and hlh-8, which is involved in non-bodywall muscle development. In the process, we quantified bodywall muscle RNA. Our data suggest that shared target genes and overlapping regulation buffer the hlh-1 and unc-120 mutant phenotypes. RNA expression genome-wide in the early embryo