title: UNC-85, a C. elegans homolog of the histone chaperone Asf1, functions in post-embryonic neuroblast replication.
abstract: Normal animal development requires accurate cell divisions, not only in the early stages of rapid embryonic cleavages, but also in later developmental stages. The Caenorhabditis elegans unc-85 gene is implicated only in cell divisions that occur post-embryonically, primarily in terminal neuronal lineages. Variable post-embryonic cell division failures in ventral cord motoneuron precursors result in uncoordinated locomotion of unc-85 mutant larvae by the second larval stage. These neuroblast cell division failures often result in unequally sized daughter nuclei, and sometimes in nuclear fusions. Using a combination of conventional mapping techniques and microarray analysis, we cloned the unc-85 gene, and find that it encodes one of two C. elegans homologs of the yeast Anti-silencing function 1 (Asf1) histone chaperone. The unc-85 gene is expressed in replicating cells throughout development, and the protein is localized in nuclei. Examination of null mutants confirms that embryonic neuroblast cell divisions occur normally, but post-embryonic neuroblast cell divisions fail. Analysis of the DNA content of the mutant neurons indicates that defective replication in post-embryonic neuroblasts gives rise to ventral cord neurons with an average DNA content of approximately 2.5 n. We conclude that UNC-85 functions in post-embryonic DNA replication in ventral cord motor neuron precursors.
authors.affiliation: Biology Department and Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 110 8th Street, Biotech-BCHM-2, Troy, NY 12180, USA.
authors.forename: Iwen F
authors.initials: IF
authors.lastname: Grigsby
authors.forename: Fern P
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Finger
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000196:embryology / Q000254:growth & development*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004261:DNA Replication; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000378:metabolism; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018832:Molecular Chaperones / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D046569:Neuroepithelial Cells; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D018832:Molecular Chaperones; C529791:unc-85 protein, C elegans