title: The SQV-1 UDP-glucuronic acid decarboxylase and the SQV-7 nucleotide-sugar transporter may act in the Golgi apparatus to affect Caenorhabditis elegans vulval morphogenesis and embryonic development.
abstract: Recent findings indicate that glycosaminoglycans can play important roles in animal development. The genes sqv-3, -7, and -8, which are necessary for vulval morphogenesis in Caenorhabditis elegans, affect the biosynthesis of chondroitin and heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycans. We cloned sqv-1 and showed that the SQV-1 protein is a type II transmembrane protein that functions as a UDP-glucuronic acid decarboxylase. SQV-1 localizes to punctate cytoplasmic compartments and colocalizes with the SQV-7 nucleotide-sugar transporter, which probably acts in the Golgi apparatus. SQV-1 and SQV-7 are both expressed in the vulva and in oocytes, where they likely act in vulval morphogenesis and embryonic development, respectively. Progeny of sqv-7 and sqv-1 null mutants fail to initiate cytokinesis, possibly because they are unable to separate the plasma membrane from the eggshell, a defect analogous to that of incomplete vulval invagination.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Biology, 68-425, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Ho-Yon
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: H Robert
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Horvitz
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism; D002262:Carboxy-Lyases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000201:enzymology; D005260:Female; D006056:Golgi Apparatus / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009004:Monosaccharide Transport Proteins; D009024:Morphogenesis; D033701:Nucleobase, Nucleoside, Nucleotide, and Nucleic Acid Transport Proteins; D009711:Nucleotides / Q000378:metabolism; D011817:Rabbits; D013194:Staining and Labeling / Q000379:methods; D014535:Uridine Diphosphate Glucuronic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D014540:Uridine Diphosphate Xylose / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D009004:Monosaccharide Transport Proteins; D033701:Nucleobase, Nucleoside, Nucleotide, and Nucleic Acid Transport Proteins; D009711:Nucleotides; C414738:sqv-7 protein, C elegans; D014535:Uridine Diphosphate Glucuronic Acid; D014540:Uridine Diphosphate Xylose; D002262:Carboxy-Lyases; C468929:SQV-1 protein, C elegans; C023257:UDPglucuronate decarboxylase