Figure 2. PCP genes act autonomously in VC4 and VC5 and non-autonomously from epithelial cells to inhibit neurite growth. (A) Schematic representation of genomic rescuing constructs and GFP transcriptional reporters used in this study. (B-D)
prkl-1 (B),
vang-1 (C), and
dsh-1 (D) transcriptional activity (GFP) is present in VC neurons during the period of VC neurite extension (L4 stage) and in vulval cells (arrowhead in B). Expression is also seen in a subset of ventral cord neurons and uterine cells. Due to widespread expression of
vang-1 and
dsh-1 in neurons, the VC1-6 and vulval cell reporter Plin-11::RFP was used to unambiguously identify VC neurons (yellow in merged image). Scale bars, 20 um. (E) Cell-specific rescue experiments using functional GFP-tagged proteins suggest that
prkl-1 acts autonomously in VC neurons, whereas
vang-1 and
dsh-1 act both autonomously in VC neurons and non-autonomously to restrict neurite emergence. Representative transgenic lines are shown, but at least two independent lines were examined per experiment. All lines carry a cyIs4 reporter. Error bars represent standard error of proportion; n.100. *p,0.001,
x2 (compared to non-transgene expressing mutants).