lin-17 mutations of Caenorhabditis elegans disrupt certain asymmetric cell divisions.
The identification of a gene necessary for the asymmetry of cell division would be an important first step toward understanding how sister cells come to differ in their developmental fates. The lin-17 gene of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is an excellent candidate for being such a gene. lin-17 mutations cause several blast cells that normally generate sister cells of two distinct types to generate instead sister cells of the same type. Moreover, lin-17 mutations cause sister cells to be equal in size as well as equivalent in developmental fate, suggesting that lin-17 acts at or prior to the asymmetric cell division. The lin-17 gene product is involved in asymmetric cell divisions in a variety of tissues, indicating that lin-17 functions in a general mechanism for the establishment of cellular asymmetry in parent cells.
Sternberg
P W
PW
Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena 91125.
Horvitz
H R
HR
D000818:Animals; D002107:Caenorhabditis / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D002455:Cell Division; D012734:Disorders of Sex Development; D009154:Mutation