Perez Marcos Francisco, Lehner Ben
Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain.
Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain.
Front Physiol. 2019 Aug 21;10:1067. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.01067. eCollection 2019.
Vitellogenins are a family of yolk proteins that are by far the most abundant among oviparous animals. In the model nematode , the 6 vitellogenins are among the most highly expressed genes in the adult hermaphrodite intestine, which produces copious yolk to provision eggs. In this article we review what is known about the vitellogenin genes and proteins in , in comparison with vitellogenins in other taxa. We argue that the primary purpose of abundant vitellogenesis in is to support post-embryonic development and fertility, rather than embryogenesis, especially in harsh environments. Increasing vitellogenin provisioning underlies several post-embryonic phenotypic alterations associated with advancing maternal age, demonstrating that vitellogenins can act as an intergenerational signal mediating the influence of parental physiology on progeny. We also review what is known about vitellogenin regulation - how tissue-, sex- and stage-specificity of expression is achieved, how vitellogenins are regulated by major signaling pathways, how vitellogenin expression is affected by extra-intestinal tissues and how environmental experience affects vitellogenesis. Lastly, we speculate whether vitellogenins may play other roles in worm physiology.
卵黄蛋白原是一类卵黄蛋白，在卵生动物中含量最为丰富。在模式线虫中，6种卵黄蛋白原是成年雌雄同体线虫肠道中表达量最高的基因之一，该肠道会产生大量卵黄以供应卵子。在本文中，我们将与其他分类群中的卵黄蛋白原进行比较，综述关于线虫中卵黄蛋白原基因和蛋白质的已知信息。我们认为，线虫中大量进行卵黄生成的主要目的是支持胚胎后期发育和繁殖力，而非胚胎发生，尤其是在恶劣环境中。增加卵黄蛋白原的供应是与母体年龄增长相关的几种胚胎后期表型改变的基础，这表明卵黄蛋白原可作为一种代际信号，介导亲代生理对后代的影响。我们还综述了关于卵黄蛋白原调控的已知信息——如何实现表达的组织特异性、性别特异性和阶段特异性，卵黄蛋白原如何受到主要信号通路的调控，肠道外组织如何影响卵黄蛋白原的表达，以及环境经历如何影响卵黄生成。最后，我们推测线虫卵黄蛋白原是否可能在线虫生理中发挥其他作用。
