CGC Bibliography Paper 5292

MRG-1, a mortality factor-related chromodomain protein, is required maternally for primordial germ cells to initiate mitotic proliferation in C. elegans.

Fujita M, Takasaki T, Nakajima N, Kawano T, Shimura Y, Sakamoto

Medline:

12175490

Citation:

Mechanisms of Development 114: 61-69 2002

Type:

ARTICLE

Genes:

fem-3 glp-4 lag-2 mrg-1 pgl-1 rde-1

Abstract:

We identified MRG-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans chromodomain-containing protein that is similar to the human mortality factor-related gene 15 product (MRG15). RNA-mediated interference (RNAi) of mrg-1 resulted in complete absence of the germline in both hermaphrodite and male adults. Examination of the expression of PGL-1, a component of P granules, revealed that two primordial germ cells (PGCs) are produced during embryogenesis in mrg-1(RNAi) animals, but these PGCs cannot undergo mitotic proliferation, and they ultimately degenerate during post-embryonic development. Zygotic RNAi experiments using RNAi-deficient hermaphrodites and wild-type males demonstrated that MRG-1 functions maternally. Moreover, immunoblot analysis using mutant animals with germline deficiencies indicated that MRG-1 is synthesized predominantly in oocytes. These results suggest that MRG-1 is required maternally to form normal PGCs with the potential to start mitotic proliferation during post-embryonic development.