University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey

Shya, Y.J., Hiatt, S. M., Duren, H.M., Ellis R.E., Kerppola, T.K. C-D Hu Visualization of protein interactions in living Caenorhabditis elegans using bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) analysis. Nature Protocols. Vol. 3: 586-588 (2008 ) .

Ellis, R.E. Enigma variations: control of sexual fate in nematode germ cells. Genome Biol. Vol. 7: 227 (2006 ) .

Ellis, RE and Schedl, T. Sex Determination in the Germ Line. in The WormBook. ed Marty Chalfie et al. Vol. WormBase.: (2005 ) .

Shen, X., Ellis, RE, Zhang, K., and R. J. Kaufman. Genetic Interactions as a Consequence of Constitutive and Inducible Gene Regulation Mediated by the Unfolded Protein Response in C. elegans. PLoS Genet. Vol. 2005 Sep 23;1(3): e37 [Epub ahead of print] (2005 ) .

Gao, J., Estrada, L., Cho, S., Ellis, R. E. and J. L. Gorski The Caenorhabditis elegans ortholog of FGD1, the human Cdc42 GEF gene responsible for Faciogenital Dysplasia, is critical for excretory cell morphogenesis. Hum. Mol. Genetics . Vol. 10: 3049-3062. (2001 ) .

Gray JM, Karow DS, Lu H, Ellis RE. et al. Oxygen sensation and social feeding mediated by a C-elegans guanylate cyclase homologue. Nature. Vol. Jul 15 2004;430(6997): 317-322 (2004 ) .

Cho SC, Jin SW, Cohen A, Ellis RE A phylogeny of Caenorhabditis reveals frequent loss of introns during nematode evolution. Genome Research. Vol. Jul 2004;14(7): 1207-1220 (2004 ) .

Jin, S.-W., Arno, N., Cohen, A., Shah, A., Xu, Q., Chen, N. and Ellis, R. E. In C. elegans, the RNA-binding domains of the CPEB protein FOG-1 are needed to regulate germ cell fates. Genetics . Vol. 159: 1617-1630 (2001 ) .

Shen, X., Ellis, R. E., Kurnit, D. M., Liu, C.-Y., Lee, K., Solomon, A., Morimoto, R., Yoshida, H., Mori, K. and R. J. Complementary signaling pathways regulate the Unfolded Protein Response and are required for C. elegans development. Cell . Vol. 107: 893-903. (2001 ) .

Chen, P-J., Cho, S., Jin, S.-W. and Ellis, R. E. Specification of germ cell fates by FOG-3 has been conserved during nematode evolution. Genetics . Vol. 158: 1513:1525 (2001 ) .

Stansberry, J., Taylor, M. K., Baude, E. J., Chen, P.-J., Jin, S.-W., Ellis, R. E. and Uhler, M. Wild-type motility in nematodes requires a cGMP-dependent protein kinase . J. Neurochemistry . Vol. 76 : 1177-1187 (2001 ) .

Jin, S.-W., Kimble, J. and Ellis, R. E. Regulation of Cell Fate by a Novel Cytoplasmic Polyadenylation Element Binding protein in C. elegans. Dev. Biol. Vol. 229: 537-553 (2001 ) .

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Grants and Contracts

Title: Evolution of Developmental Regulatory Pathways
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health
Effective Date(s): 2008 - 2013
Role: Principal Investigator

Title: Evolution of hermaphroditism
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Effective Date(s): 2006 - 2009
Role: P.I.

Title: Translational Regulation of Germ Cell Fate by FOG-1,
Sponsor: American Cancer Society
Effective Date(s): 2002 - 2006
Role: P.I.

Title: The evolution and genetic regulation of sexual fate in nematodes,
Sponsor: National Science Foundation
Effective Date(s): 1999 - 2004
Role: P.O.

Title: The Regulation of Germ Cell Fate in Caenorhabditis elegans
Sponsor: American Cancer Society
Effective Date(s): 1997 - 2001
Role: P.I.

Title: Does repression of fog-3 by TRA-1A control sex-determination in germ cells?
Sponsor: March of Dimes
Effective Date(s): 1998 - 2000
Role: P.I.

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Research Areas

Control of Germ Cell Fate: Animals must produce sperm or eggs to reproduce. Although these cell types differ dramatically, they are produced from similar progenitors. Understanding how this process is controlled could revolutionize our ability to treat reproductive disorders and infertility in humans. To learn how spermatogenesis and oogenesis are specified, we are studying the fog-1 and fog-3 genes of nematodes. We know these genes are required for germ cells to initiate spermatogenesis, because in mutants all germ cells instead become oocytes. We showed that FOG-1 is a Cytoplasmic Polyadenylation Element binding protein, and are now searching for its target messenger RNAs, to learn how they interact with FOG-1 to control germ cell fates. FOG-3 is related to the Tob proteins of other animals, and we are using it as a molecular model to elucidate how this conserved family of proteins functions.

Evolution of Hermaphroditism: Sexual traits are among the most rapidly changing features of each species. To learn how these changes take place, and how developmental pathways constrain which ones occur, we are studying the evolution of mating systems in nematodes. The genus Caenorhabditis contains male/hermaphroditic species like C. elegans and C. briggsae, and male/female species like C. remanei. We characterized five genes from each species to develop a phylogeny of these animals, which shows that the two hermaphroditic species are not closely related. Thus, mating systems must have changed multiple times during the evolution of this group. FOG-1 and FOG-3 have conserved roles specifying germ cell fate in each species, but the expression of fog-3 differs dramatically between XX females and XX hermaphrodites. We are studying how this regulation occurs in C. remanei and C. briggsae, to learn how their sexual development has been altered to create each mating system. Our results suggest that the structure of the regulatory pathways involved strongly influences what changes are possible.

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