The Caenorhabditis elegans lin-12 gene encodes a transmembrane protein with overall similarity to Drosophila Notch

The lin-12 gene seems to control certain binary decisions during Caenorhabditis elegans development, from genetic and anatomical studies of lin-12 mutants that have either elevated or reduced levels of lin-12 activity1. We report here the complete DNA sequence of lin-12:13.5 kilobases (kb) derived from genomic clones and 4.5 kb from complementary DNA clones. It is of interest that the predicted product is a putative transmembrane protein, given that many of the decisions controlled by lin-12 activity require cell-cell interactions for the correct choice of cell fate2–5. In addition, the predicted lin-12 product may be classified into several regions, based on amino acid sequence similarities to other proteins. These include extensive overall sequence similarity to the Drosophila Notch protein6,7, which also is involved in cell-cell interactions that specify cell fate6–8; a repeated motif found9 in proteins encoded by the yeast cell-cycle control genes cdc10 (Schizosaccharomyces pombe)10 and SWI6 (Saccharomyces cerevisiae)9; and a repeated motif exemplified by epidermal growth factor, found in many mammalian proteins11.

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