Transcription regulatory networks in Caenorhabditis elegans

Gene

Public Gene Name

tph-1  

Sequence Name

ZK1290.2  

WB ID

WBGene00006600  

Description

tph-1 encodes tryptophan hydroxylase, the enzyme that catalyzes the rate-limiting first step in serotonin biosynthesis; in vivo, tph-1 activity is required for serotonin biosynthesis, and well-fed animals mutant for tph-1 exhibit changes in behavioral and metabolic processes similar to those caused by starvation: slower rates of egg laying and pharyngeal pumping, dauer larval arrest, increased fat storage, and an extended reproductive lifespan; genetic studies indicate that, in regulating feeding and metabolism, tph-1 interacts with the daf-7/TGF-beta and daf-2/insulin-like signaling pathways; a TPH-1::GFP reporter is expressed in the serotonergic neurons: NSM, ADF, HSN (hermaphrodite-specific), CP (male-specific), and also rarely in the AIM and RIH neurons.