...Buqing Yi; Ralf J. Sommer The Hox gene lin-39 plays a crucial role in the establishment of the nematode vulva equivalence group. Mutations in lin-39 in Caenorhabditis elegans and Pristionchus pacificus result in a vulvaless phenotype because presumptive vulva precursor cells adopt non-vulval fates...

... in different Hox mutant combinations, we found an essential but overlapping role for two of the Hox cluster genes, lin-39 and mab-5 , in diversification of the postembryonic mesoderm. This role of the two Hox gene products required the CEH-20 cofactor. One target of these two Hox genes is the C. elegans twist...

... different responses in different tissues. In C. elegans , activation of the Ras pathway induces cells in the central body region to generate the vulva. Vulval induction takes place in the domain of the Hox gene lin-39 . We have found that lin-39 is absolutely required for Ras signaling to induce vulval...