title: Role of the C. elegans U2 snRNP protein MOG-2 in sex determination, meiosis, and splice site selection.
abstract: In Caenorhabditis elegans, germ cells develop as spermatids in the larva and as oocytes in the adult. Such fundamentally different gametes are produced through a fine-tuned balance between feminizing and masculinizing genes. For example, the switch to oogenesis requires repression of the fem-3 mRNA through the mog genes. Here we report on the cloning and characterization of the sex determination gene mog-2. MOG-2 is the worm homolog of spliceosomal protein U2A'. We found that MOG-2 is expressed in most nuclei of somatic and germ cells. In addition to its role in sex determination, mog-2 is required for meiosis. Moreover, MOG-2 binds to U2B″/RNP-3 in the absence of RNA. We also show that MOG-2 associates with the U2 snRNA in the absence of RNP-3. Therefore, we propose that MOG-2 is a bona fide component of the U2 snRNP. Albeit not being required for general pre-mRNA splicing, MOG-2 increases the splicing efficiency to a cryptic splice site that is located at the 5' end of the exon.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zanetti
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Meola
authors.forename: Arlette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bochud
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Puoti
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005854:Germ Cells / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008540:Meiosis; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011485:Protein Binding; D022821:RNA Splice Sites; D017413:Ribonucleoprotein, U2 Small Nuclear / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D019849:Sex Determination Processes
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D022821:RNA Splice Sites; D017413:Ribonucleoprotein, U2 Small Nuclear; C559978:mog-2 protein, C elegans