Clark-Maguire S, Mains P E
Department of Medical Biochemistry, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Genetics. 1994 Feb;136(2):533-46. doi: 10.1093/genetics/136.2.533.
Meiotic spindle formation in the female germline of Caenorhabditis elegans requires expression of the gene mei-1. We have cloned mei-1 by transformation rescue and found that it resides near a hot spot for recombination, in an area of high gene density. The highest levels of mei-1 mRNA accumulate in the female germline of adult hermaphrodites as well as in fertilized embryos. The message persists for several hours after the protein functions in embryos, implying the need for post-transcriptional regulation. Two alternatively spliced messages are made that would result in proteins that differ internally by three amino acids; the larger of the two mRNAs is preferentially enriched in the female germline. The sequence of mei-1 shows that it is a member of a newly described family of ATPases that share a highly conserved nucleotide-binding site; four dominant-negative mutations of mei-1 are found at or near this region. Divergent roles ascribed to this family include membrane function, proteolysis, transcription and cell cycle regulation.
秀丽隐杆线虫雌性生殖系中的减数分裂纺锤体形成需要mei-1基因的表达。我们通过转化拯救克隆了mei-1基因，发现它位于重组热点附近，处于基因密度高的区域。mei-1 mRNA的最高水平在成年雌雄同体的雌性生殖系以及受精胚胎中积累。在胚胎中蛋白质发挥功能后，该信息持续存在数小时，这意味着需要进行转录后调控。产生了两种选择性剪接的信息，它们会导致内部相差三个氨基酸的蛋白质；两种mRNA中较大的一种在雌性生殖系中优先富集。mei-1的序列表明它是一个新描述的ATP酶家族的成员，该家族共享一个高度保守的核苷酸结合位点；在该区域或其附近发现了四个mei-1的显性负性突变。这个家族被赋予的不同作用包括膜功能、蛋白水解、转录和细胞周期调控。
