Identification and Characterization of mel-43 in C. elegans

• Author / Creator

  Ataeian, Maryam

• In the newly fertilized embryo, meiotic and mitotic spindles form
  consecutively within the same egg cytoplasm. The order of events during
  this transition is controlled, in part, via the regulation of the microtubule
  cytoskeleton. Herein, I show that mel-43 is part of a small paralogous
  gene family that is required to specify the meiosis II program of cell
  division in the fertilized egg. RNAi of mel-43 and paralogues resulted in
  failed meiosis I polar body extrusion, followed by direct entry into mitotic
  prophase. Furthermore, the dominant maternal-effect mutation mel-
  43(sb41) showed a meiosis-to-mitosis transition delay and a failure to
  segregate chromatids that exhibited persistent REC-8/kleisin
  immunostaining. Anti-MEL-43 antibodies showed that the MEL-43
  proteins exhibited high cytoplasmic levels in meiosis as well as a fibrous
  staining pattern in the midzone of the anaphase spindle. The protein
  levels were reduced after meiosis, and this was dependent on the CUL-
  2/ZYG-11 E3 ligase complex.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Meiosis
  • C. elegans
  • Cell division

• Graduation date

  Spring 2013

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R39X1B

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.