CELE_C54D1.6, pvl-1, spy-1, C54D1.6

bar-1 encodes a beta-catenin; during C. elegans development, BAR-1 likely functions as a transcriptional coactivator whose activity is required for Q neuroblast migration, P12 cell fate specification, and P3.p through P8.p vulval cell fate specification at two different stages of development; in specifying vulval cell fates, bar-1 interacts with Wnt and MAPK signaling pathways to regulate proper expression of the LIN-39 homeodomain transcription factor, overexpresion of which can partially rescue the bar-1 mutant phenotype; in yeast two-hybrid assays, BAR-1 interacts strongly with the POP-1/TCF transcription factor, and when fused to the Gal4 DNA binding domain, BAR-1 can function in yeast as a transcriptional coactivator; during larval development, BAR-1 expression begins in P3.p through P8.p at the late L1 stage and then disappears from these cells by the mid-L3 stage; BAR-1 is also expressed in P12, in the seam cells, and in cells of the somatic gonad; BAR-1 subcellular localization, assessed using an integrated transgene, reveals localization to the cytoplasm, nucleus, and cell junctions; genetic mosaic analyses indicate that, in P4.p and in P12, bar-1 acts cell autonomously to specify cell fates.

CELE_T19B4.7, madd-1, unc-91, T19B4.7

unc-40 encodes a netrin receptor that is required to guide dorsal-ventral cell and axon migrations, and is required for correct polarization and migration of the neuroblasts QL and QR; UNC-40 function in both UNC-5-dependent and UNC-5-independent signaling pathways to regulate cell and axon migrations; UNC-5-dependent signaling is likely enhanced by UNC-129, a TGF-beta signaling molecule that is expressed in a gradient opposite that of UNC-6 netrin; UNC-40 is also required, along with UNC-6, for mediating anchor cell (AC) invasion, likely by regulating formation of an AC invasive membrane domain; an UNC-40::GFP fusion protein is expressed on the surface of motile cells and pioneering neurons.