Transcriptional activator (By similarity). Regulates the lateral/ventral epidermal cell fate decision (PubMed:26953187). Expressed throughout embryogenesis and early larval development, predominantly in hypodermal cells, especially ventral P cells and their descendants. RNAi-mediated knockdown causes embryonic lethality, vulval and gonad migration defects, and animals that survive have mild to severe body morphology defects (PubMed:26953187). A marker of the lateral hypodermal (seam cell) fate, scm, is expressed ectopically in some P cell nuclei during the early larval L1 stage (PubMed:26953187). Belongs to the paired homeobox family.