TY  - GEN
T1  - The C-terminus of SPE-11 is required for proper embryonic development in C. elegans
AU  - Jaramillo-Lambert, Aimee
AU  - Golden, Andy
DO  - 10.17912/micropub.biology.000255
UR  - http://beta.micropublication.org/journals/biology/micropub-biology-000255/
AB  - SPE-11 is a sperm protein required to initiate embryonic development. Mutations of the spe-11 gene result in a strict paternal-effect lethal phenotype. Wild-type oocytes fertilized by sperm from homozygous spe-11 males leads to abnormal development, but the reciprocal interaction, spe-11 mutant oocytes fertilized by wild-type male sperm, results in normal development (Hill et al. 1989). Sperm from homozygous spe-11 males are morphologically normal and do not display motility defects (L’Hernault et al. 1988). However, the absence of functional SPE-11 results in embryonic failure at early stages. Embryonic defects include failure to complete oocyte meiosis (an event that takes place upon fertilization), formation of a weak eggshell, and improper orientation of the first mitotic spindle (Hill et al. 1989). In addition, Spe-11 embryos fail to complete cytokinesis during the first division resulting in multinucleated one-cell embryos that eventually die (Hill et al. 1989). The embryonic lethality phenotype conferred by spe-11 mutant sperm is rescued when SPE-11 is ectopically expressed in oocytes demonstrating that SPE-11 functions during early embryogenesis and is not required during sperm development (Browning and Strome 1996). Furthermore, SPE-11 expression in oocytes did not disrupt oocyte activation because these oocytes were still capable of fertilization and did not precociously form an eggshell (i.e. prior to fertilization, Browning and Strome 1996).
PY  - 2020
JO  - microPublication Biology
ER  -