CEPsh glia development is not required for general AWC identity or AWC asymmetry

The Caenorhabditis elegans VAB-3/Pax6 homeodomain protein was previously shown to play a role in both the development of cephalic sheath (CEPsh) glia and asymmetric differentiation of AWC olfactory neuron subtypes AWC ON /AWC OFF . Here we show that vab-3 is not required for the specification of general AWC identity. We also show that some vab-3 mutant alleles with defective CEPsh glia development displayed wild-type AWC asymmetry. These results suggest that vab-3 has separable roles in CEPsh glia development and AWC asymmetry. Together, our results suggest that general AWC identity and AWC asymmetry are not dependent on the development of CEPsh glia.