The Caenorhabditis elegans gene sere-4 controls neuronal and mesodermal cell development and encodes a zmc finger protein

Neuronal and mesodermal cell types are generated in separate cell lineages during the larval development of Caenorhabditis elegans. Here we demonstrate that the gene sere-4 is required in both types of lineages for the normal development of neuronal and mesodermal cell types. The sere-4 gene encodes a protein containing seven zinc finger motifs of the C2H 2 class, four of which are arranged in two pairs widely separated in the primary sequence of the protein. These pairs of zinc fingers are similar to pairs of zinc fingers in the protein encoded by the Drosophila homeotic gene spalt and in the human transcription factor PRDII-BF1. Analysis of sere-4 alleles suggests that different zinc fingers in the SEM-4 protein may function differentially in neuronal and mesodermal cell types. We propose that sere-4 interacts with different transcription factors in different cell types to control the transcription of genes that function in the processes of neuronal and mesodermal cell development.