Adeline's Song

In the Hook Equivalence Group

(To the tune of In the Big Rock Candy Mountain)

Well we're pretty sure we know the signals that determine each cell type

in the vulval epithelium of the C. elegans hermaphrodite.

But when it comes to the male, and the fates in the tail, we're a little out of the loop.

That’s when Adeline came, and started to explain, the hook equivalence group.

Well P9p through 11p play roles in hook formation.

Redundant with the PCS, it helps vulva location.

P11 gets the primary fate and P10 is number two.

P9 might decide that it wants to divide,

but sometimes it's the type to fuse with the hyp,

And that's the hook equivalence group.

Now it seems that the very same signals can make a vulva or hook,

But Adeline found specificity when she took a closer look.

We know P6p responds to lin-3 but not so much to Wnt,

But in lin-17, hook defects were seen, and that gave her a hint…

That these equivalence groups are patterned by slightly different codes,

and the HCG just might reflect the more ancestral mode

You need some Wnt for the primary fate, and Notch for number 2,

And lin-3 RNAi, with Wnt compromised,

showed you need EGF only when you're bereft,

In the hook equivalence group.

This difference in induction might explain these varied fates

But maybe Hox expression puts these groups in different states

We hate to dwell on the history of the cell, I don't think it's a stoop (to say)

it might address why mab-5 is expressed in the hook equivalence group.

And that's not all she did, oh no, her curiosity made her

Examine inductive signaling by TGF-beta

Adeline, you brighten the lab, and nothing seems to phase ya

We'll miss your mood, and your love of good food,

It’s quite a long list, all the things that we’ll miss,

When you go to Southeast Asia.