Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 14, 2026

Application of RNAi and Heat-shock-induced Transcription Factor Expression to Reprogram Germ Cells to Neurons in C. elegans
Published on: January 1, 2018
Probing and rearranging the transcription factor network controlling the C. elegans endoderm
Tobias Wiesenfahrt1, Erin Osborne Nishimura2, Janette Y Berg1
1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary , Calgary, AB, Canada.
Abstract:
The ELT-2 GATA factor is the predominant transcription factor regulating gene expression in the C. elegans intestine, following endoderm specification. We comment on our previous study (Wiesenfahrt et al., 2016) that investigated how the elt-2 gene is controlled by END-1, END-3 and ELT-7, the 3 endoderm specific GATA factors that lie upstream in the regulatory hierarchy. We also discuss the unexpected result that ELT-2, if expressed sufficiently early and at sufficiently high levels, can specify the C. elegans endoderm, replacing the normal functions of END-1 and END-3.
Related Concept Videos
Master Transcription Regulators
Master Transcription Regulators
RNA Polymerase II Accessory Proteins
General Transcription Factors
Combinatorial Gene Control
The expression of more than 30,000 genes is controlled by approximately 2000-3000 transcription factors. This is possible because a single transcription factor can recognize more than one regulatory sequence. The specificity in gene...
Transcription Factors

