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PMID: 9609828 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

Chromatin silencing and the maintenance of a functional germline in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Development (Cambridge, England) ·Vol. 125 ·No. 13 ·1998-07-00 ·Pages 2451-6

Kelly WG, Fire A

Abstract

The germline of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans exhibits a remarkable ability to specifically silence transgenic DNA. We have shown that this silencing mechanism is disrupted in animals mutant for the maternal effect sterile genes mes-2, mes-3, mes-4 and mes-6. The proteins encoded by mes-2 and mes-6 have been shown to be related to the Polycomb Group of transcriptional repressors (Holdeman, R., Nehrt, S. and Strome, S. (1998). Development 125, 2457-2467; Korf, I., Fan, F. and Strome, S. (1998). Development 125, 2469-2478). These results suggest that a genetic silencing process is essential for sustained germline function, and that this silencing is mediated, at least in part, by Polycomb Group proteins.

MeSH Terms
Animals Animals, Genetically Modified Caenorhabditis elegans/genetics Chromatin/physiology Crosses, Genetic Disorders of Sex Development Female Fertility/genetics Genes, Helminth Genes, Reporter Green Fluorescent Proteins Helminth Proteins/biosynthesis,genetics Infertility, Female/genetics Luminescent Proteins/biosynthesis,genetics Male Recombinant Fusion Proteins/biosynthesis Repressor Proteins/biosynthesis,genetics Zygote/physiology
Chemicals
Chromatin Helminth Proteins Luminescent Proteins Recombinant Fusion Proteins Repressor Proteins Green Fluorescent Proteins
Authors & Affiliations
2 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Kelly W G
Department of Embryology, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Baltimore, MD 21210, USA.
Fire A
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Article Info
Journal
Development (Cambridge, England)
Abbr.
Development
ISSN
0950-1991
Published
1998-07-00
Pages
2451-6
Language
English
Region
England
NLM ID
8701744
PMCID
PMC4084878
Subset
IM
Grants
NIGMS NIH HHS · R01 GM063102 · United States
NICHD NIH HHS · F32-HD07794 · United States
NIGMS NIH HHS · R01-GM37706 · United States
NICHD NIH HHS · F32 HD007794 · United States
NIGMS NIH HHS · R01 GM037706 · United States
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