Cell migration is essential during embryonic development and in processes such as wound healing. Numerous genes involved in cell migration have been identified, but to get a more complete picture Jean Schwarzbauer and co-authors have undertaken the first comprehensive RNAi screen for genes that interfere with gonad formation in C. elegans (see ). In this organism, distal tip cells (DTCs) from the gonadal primordium migrate post-embryonically to form two U-shaped gonad arms. Gonadal defects caused by aberrant DTC migration are clearly visible in the transparent adult worms. From their screen, the authors identify 99 genes that are required for DTC migration, including genes previously implicated in this process and orthologs of migration genes from mammalian and other systems. The authors then use published genetic and physical interaction data to assemble a network of 59 genes that may drive the migration of DTCs. Detailed analysis of this network, they suggest, should improve our understanding of the multi-factorial processes that control cell migration in C. elegans and other organisms.
