par-1, a gene required for establishing polarity in C. elegans embryos, encodes a putative Ser/Thr kinase that is asymmetrically distributed

• Published in: Cell 1995-05, Vol.81 (4), p.611-620
• Main Authors: Guo, Su, Kemphues, Kenneth J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Caenorhabditis elegans; Caenorhabditis elegans - embryology; Caenorhabditis elegans - genetics; Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins - genetics; Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins - metabolism; Cell Polarity; Cloning, Molecular; DNA-Binding Proteins - genetics; DNA-Binding Proteins - metabolism; Mammals; Molecular Sequence Data; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases - genetics; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases - metabolism; Sequence Alignment
• ISSN: 0092-8674; 1097-4172
• DOI: 10.1016/0092-8674(95)90082-9

The first cleavage of C. elegans is asymmetric, generating daughter cells with different sizes, cytoplasmic components, and fates. Mutations in the par-1 gene disrupt this asymmetry. We report here that par-1 encodes a putative Ser/Thr kinase with similarity to kinases from yeasts and mammals. Two strong alleles have mutations in the kinase domain, suggesting that kinase activity is essential for par-1 function. PAR-1 protein is localized to the posterior periphery of the zygote and is distributed in a polar fashion preceding the asymmetric divisions of the germline lineage. Because PAR-1 distribution in the germline correlates with the distribution of germline-specific P granules, it is possible that PAR-1 functions in germ line development as well as in establishing embryonic polarity.