Ce-wts-1 plays important roles in Caenorhabditis elegans development

The Hippo-Warts pathway defines a novel signaling cascade involved in organ size control and tumor suppression. However, the developmental function of this pathway is less understood. Here we report that the Caenorhabditis elegans homolog of Warts, Ce-wts-1, plays important roles during worm development. The null allele of Ce-wts-1 causes L1 lethality. Partial loss of Ce-wts-1 function by RNAi reveals that Ce-wts-1 is involved in many developmental processes such as larval development, growth rate regulation, gut granule formation, pharynx development, dauer formation, lifespan and body length control. Genetic analyses show that Ce-wts-1 functions synergistically with the TGF-β Sma/Mab pathway to regulate body length. In addition, CE-WTS-1::GFP is enriched near the inner cell membrane, implying its possible membrane-related function.