Three proteins involved in Caenorhabditis elegans vulval invagination are similar to components of a glycosylation pathway

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Abstract
We have molecularly analyzed three genes, sqv-3 , sqv-7 , and sqv-8 , that are required for wild-type vulval invagination in Caenorhabditis elegans . The predicted SQV-8 protein is similar in sequence to two mammalian β(1,3)-glucuronyltransferases, one of which adds glucuronic acid to protein-linked galactose-β(1,4)- N -acetylglucosamine. SQV-3 is similar to a family of glycosyltransferases that includes vertebrate β(1,4)-galactosyltransferases, which create galactose-β(1,4)- N -acetylglucosamine linkages. One model is therefore that SQV-8 uses a SQV-3 product as a substrate. SQV-7 is similar to members of a family of nucleotide-sugar transporters. The sqv genes therefore are likely to encode components of a conserved glycosylation pathway that assembles a C. elegans carbohydrate moiety, the absence of which perturbs vulval invagination.