Promotion of oogenesis and embryogenesis in the C. elegans gonad by EFL-1/DPL-1(E2F)does not require LIN-35(pRB)

Microarray-based expression profiling of dissected gonads from efl-1, dpl-1 and lin-35 mutants reveals that EFL-1 and DPL-1 promote expression of an extensively overlapping set of target genes, consistent with the expectation that these two proteins function as a heterodimer. Regulatory regions upstream of many of these target genes have a canonical E2F binding site, suggesting that their regulation by EFL-1/DPL-1 is direct. Many EFL-1/DPL-1 responsive genes encode proteins required for oogenesis and early embryogenesis, rather than cell cycle components. By contrast, LIN-35 appears to function primarily as a repressor of gene expression in the germ line, and the genes that it acts on are for the most part distinct from those regulated by EFL-1 and/or DPL-1 Keywords: Mutant analysis of dpl-1, efl-1, and lin-35 in dissected C. elegans gonads We isolated dissected gonads from dpl-1, efl-1 and lin-35 mutant adults and compared each to control dissected gonads. RNA was linearly amplified prior to labeling for all genotypes. Each comparison was done in triplicate (dpl-1 and lin-35) or in quadruplicate (efl-1) on independently grown and isolated animals.