title: Suppressors of zyg-1 define regulators of centrosome duplication and nuclear association in Caenorhabditis elegans.
abstract: In Caenorhabditis elegans, the kinase ZYG-1 is required for centrosome duplication. To identify factors that interact with ZYG-1, we used a classical genetic approach and identified 21 szy (suppressor of zyg-1) genes that when mutated restore partial viability to a zyg-1 mutant. None of the suppressors render animals completely independent of zyg-1 activity and analysis of a subset of the suppressors indicates that all restore the normal process of centrosome duplication to zyg-1 mutants. Thirteen of these suppressor mutations confer phenotypes of their own and cytological examination reveals that these genes function in a variety of cellular processes including cell cycle timing, microtubule organization, cytokinesis, chromosome segregation, and centrosome morphology. Interestingly, several of the szy genes play a role in attaching the centrosome to the nuclear envelope. We have found that one such szy gene is sun-1, a gene encoding a nuclear envelope component. We further show that the role of SUN-1 in centrosome duplication is distinct from its role in attachment. Our approach has thus identified numerous candidate regulators of centrosome duplication and uncovered an unanticipated regulatory mechanism involving factors that tether the centrosome to the nucleus.
authors: Laboratory of Biochemistry and Genetics, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.
authors: Catherine A
authors: CA
authors: Kemp
authors: Mi Hye
authors: MH
authors: Song
authors: Murali Krishna
authors: MK
authors: Addepalli
authors: Ginger
authors: G
authors: Hunter
authors: Kevin
authors: K
authors: O'Connell
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D002455:Cell Division; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism*; D018385:Centrosome / Q000378:metabolism*; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000166:cytology; D017238:Genes, Helminth; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010641:Phenotype; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D034622:RNA Interference; D018160:Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear / Q000378:metabolism; D013489:Suppression, Genetic
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D018160:Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear; C514114:sun-1 protein, C elegans; D011494:Protein Kinases; C429649:zyg-1 protein, C elegans