Premium
OMA‐1 is a P granules‐associated protein that is required for germline specification in Caenorhabditis elegans embryos
Author(s) -
Shimada Masumi,
Yokosawa Hideyoshi,
Kawahara Hiroyuki
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
genes to cells
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.912
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1365-2443
pISSN - 1356-9597
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2443.2006.00945.x
Subject(s) - germline , biology , caenorhabditis elegans , zinc finger , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , embryo , embryonic stem cell , cytoplasm , gene , transcription factor
In Caenorhabditis elegans , CCCH‐type zinc‐finger proteins have been shown to be involved in the differentiation of germ cells during embryonic development. Previously, we and others have identified novel redundant CCCH‐type zinc‐finger proteins, OMA‐1 and OMA‐2, that are involved in oocyte maturation. In this study, we report that the cytoplasmic expression level of OMA‐1 protein was largely reduced after fertilization. In contrast to its cytoplasmic degradation, OMA‐1 was found to accumulate exclusively on P granules in germline blastomeres during embryogenesis. A notable finding is that embryos with partially suppressed oma‐1 ; oma‐2 expression showed inappropriate germline specification, including abnormal distributions of PGL‐1, MEX‐1 and PIE‐1 proteins. Thus, our results suggest that oma gene products are novel multifunctional proteins that participate in crucial processes for germline specification during embryonic development.