Description of "F47F6.1" |
lin-42 encodes a PAS domain-containing protein orthologous to the insect and mammalian Period proteins that function in the timing of circadian rhythms; during postembryonic development, lin-42 activity is required for the switch from larval to adult fates that occurs in the hypodermal seam cells during the fourth and final molt; as a component of the heterochronic pathway, genetic analysis suggests that lin-42 likely acts early in the heterochronic pathway, either downstream of or in parallel to lin-46, which encodes a predicted scaffolding protein required for L3- and adult-specific cell fates; during larval development, lin-42 mRNA levels oscillate with peak levels apparent during larval intermolts and low levels seen during ecdysis and after the L4-to-adult molt; a rescuing LIN-42::GFP fusion protein is expressed in lateral hypodermal cells, the hypodermal syncytium, and head and tail hypodermal cells beginning during late embryogenesis and continuing through adulthood; within cells, LIN-42 is detected at generally higher levels in nuclei than in cytoplasm, although expression in the latter is enhanced during the larval molts. |