Vertebrate reproduction and metabolism are tightly controlled by glycoprotein hormones that interact with leucine-rich repeat G-protein coupled receptors (LGRs). A C. elegans homolog of the vertebrate hormone receptors ( Ce LGR) was identified by the C. elegans Genome Sequencing Consortium (1). When expressed in mammalian cells Ce LGR constitutively activates production of the second messenger cAMP, but does not respond to vertebrate hormones (2). We have taken advantage of available tools to study the possible function of Ce LGR in growth and development of C. elegans . Ce LGR:: gfp reporter constructs were made using 4.5kb of the 5' promoter sequence and 12 of the 13 exons (including the predicted transmembrane regions). Following co-injection with the
rol-6 transformation marker, GFP expression patterns were determined from the roller progeny. Strong expression was observed in many tissues associated with sensory projections to the external environment including nose sensillia, inner labial sheath and socket cells, CEP neurons, amphid sheath and socket cells, ADE and PDE neurons, vulva and male hook, spicule sensillum and ray sensory neurons. In addition, bright staining was also observed in lumenal cells of intestine and CAN neurons in both hermaphrodites and males. RNAi using a full-length coding sequence in N2 animals did not result in a detectable effect on development, general behavior, or reproduction. RNAi in the roller animals of Ce LGR::GFP strain resulted in marked suppression of intestinal GFP signal, but little or no change in expression at other sites. Studies are in progress to observe the possible phenotype using heat shock promoter fused to Ce LGR cDNA. Also, there are a number of mutants available in the vicinity of the Ce LGR locus that affect one or more cell types that expressed the Ce LGR::GFP reporter. Results from rescue studies of some of these mutants will be presented. 1. Wilson R., et al. Nature 368:32-38. (1994). 2. Kudo M., et al. Molecular Endocrinology 14:272-284. (2000).