Transcription regulatory networks in Caenorhabditis elegans

atf-6 is an ortholog of mammalian ATF6alpha, a proximal sensor required for the unfolded protein response (UPR) in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER); ATF6alpha is a transmembrane protein, with a bZIP transcription factor domain in its cytosolic amino terminus that is released and activated by proteolytic cleavage upon ER stress; either ire-1 or xbp-1 deletions are synthetically lethal with atf-6 or pek-1 deletions, producing arrest in L2 larvae; RNAi of Y56A3A.2 (a S2P protease homolog) is synthetically lethal with ire-1(RNAi), consistent with the hypothesis that Y56A3A.2 cleaves ATF-6; atf-6 regulates few genes that are transcriptionally induced by UPR, but regulates roughly one-quarter of genes that require UPR constitutively; pdr-1 transcripts are strongly upregulated in a atf-6(ok551) mutant background, but atf-6(ok551);pdr-1(lg103) double mutants have a grossly normal phenotype ; atf-6 is dispensable for proper localization of GLR-1 glutamate receptors.

atg-16.2 encodes a divergent ortholog of the autophagic budding yeast protein Atg16p, and of human ATG16L1 (OMIM:610767, associated with Crohn disease) and ATG16L2; ATG-16.2 is paralogous to ATG-16.1; ATG-16.2 has no obvious function in mass RNAi assays.

atg-3 encodes an ortholog of the autophagic budding yeast protein Atg3p, and of human ATG3 (OMIM:609606); ATG-3 is expressed in larval and adult pharynx and body wall muscle, and in adult reproductive system, vulval muscle, spermetheca, and seam cells; ATG-3 has no obvious phenotype in mass RNAi assays.

atp-3 encodes a mitochondrial ATP synthase and is part of a regulatory system that controls and establishes rates of respiration, behavior and aging during development that persist during adulthood.