Postembryonic expression of Caenorhabditis elegans mab‐21 and its requirement in sensory ray differentiation

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Abstract
The male tail sensory rays in Caenorhabditis elegans are complex copulatory structures, the normal patterning of which requires a number of regulatory genes. Among them, mab‐21 specifies the identity of sensory ray 6. By using green fluorescent protein reporters, we identify multiple cis‐acting elements that control the developmental expression of mab‐21. Traced with a functional mab‐21:gfp gene driven by authentic regulatory sequences, mab‐21 expression could be detected in hypodermal, neuronal, muscle, and ray cells. We showed here that the expression of mab‐21 in the hypodermis and neuronal cells was dispensable for its function in ray 6. In contrast, its expression in the ray 6 structural cell and neurons as conferred by its 3′ enhancer was crucial for determining the correct ray 6 identity.