unc-101, a gene required for many aspects of Caenorhabditis elegans development and behavior, encodes a clathrin-associated protein.
Our genetic analysis indicates that the unc-101 gene of Caenorhabditis elegans is required for many aspects of development and behavior, including negative regulation of vulval differentiation. We have cloned unc-101 and found that it encodes a homolog of the mammalian medium chains of clathrin-associated protein complexes located at the trans-Golgi and the plasma membrane, AP47 and AP50, respectively. Therefore, clathrin-mediated events might contribute to the negative regulation of vulval differentiation. Comparison of sequences, including a full-length sequence of a C. elegans AP50 homolog, reveals that UNC-101 is most closely related to AP47. Mouse AP47 and nematode UNC-101 proteins are functionally equivalent as assayed in transgenic nematodes. We have sequenced the mutant alleles of unc-101 identified in various genetic screens and shown that all but one are deletions or nonsense mutations, suggesting that these alleles severely reduce unc-101 function.
Lee
J
J
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena 91106.
Jongeward
G D
GD
Sternberg
P W
PW
D033962:Adaptor Protein Complex 2; D033983:Adaptor Protein Complex mu Subunits; D033942:Adaptor Proteins, Vesicular Transport; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D002966:Clathrin / Q000378:metabolism*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004247:DNA; D004627:Embryonic Induction; D005260:Female; D015801:Helminth Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D010641:Phenotype; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000502:physiology; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014844:Vulva / Q000196:embryology
D033962:Adaptor Protein Complex 2; D033983:Adaptor Protein Complex mu Subunits; D033942:Adaptor Proteins, Vesicular Transport; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D002966:Clathrin; D015801:Helminth Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D010750:Phosphoproteins; C085440:UNC-101 protein, C elegans; C438885:adaptor protein complex 2, mu 1 subunit; C438886:adaptor protein complex 2, mu 2 subunit; D004247:DNA