2002 East Coast Worm Meeting abstract 78
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Dept. of Biology , McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
The C. elegans maternal-effect clk genes are involved in the temporal control of development and behavior. We will present our detailed genetic and molecular characterization of clk-2. A recessive temperature-sensitive mutation in clk-2 affects embryonic and post-embryonic development, reproduction, adult behaviors, and life span, yet virtually all phenotypes can be fully maternally rescued. While some aspects of clk-2 function are required throughout the life cycle, including for fertility, embryonic development strictly requires the activity of maternal clk-2 only during a narrow time window between oocyte maturation and the 2 to 4-cell stage.
Positional cloning of clk-2 reveals that it encodes a protein homologous to S. cerevisiae Tel2p. In yeast, the gene TEL2 regulates telomere length and participates in gene silencing at subtelomeric regions. clk-2 mutants have elongated telomeres, and clk-2 overexpression leads to telomere shortening. A functional CLK-2::GFP fusion protein is cytoplasmic in worms, suggesting that CLK-2 has an indirect effect on telomeres. The phenotype of the clk-2 mutants could be the result of altered patterns of gene expression. We are currently exploring the relationships between the various clk-2 phenotypes and investigating whether the maternal effect is the result of epigenetic mechanisms comparable to subtelomeric silencing.
References: Benard C, McCright B, Zhang Y, Felkai S, Lakowski B, Hekimi S. (2001) Development 128, 4045.