The fully linked HTML version of this article has now been published.
Development ePress online publication date 23 Jun 2004
doi: 10.1242/dev.01244
Research article
zyg-11 and cul-2 regulate progression through meiosis II and polarity establishment in C. elegans
Rémi Sonneville
and
Pierre Gönczy*
* Author for correspondence (e-mail: pierre.gonczy{at}isrec.unil.ch)
The mechanisms that ensure coupling between meiotic cell cycle progression and subsequent developmental events, including specification of embryonic axes, are poorly understood. Here, we establish that zyg-11 and the cullin cul-2 promote the metaphase-to-anaphase transition and M phase exit at meiosis II in Caenorhabditis elegans. Our results indicate that ZYG-11 acts with a CUL-2-based E3 ligase that is essential at meiosis II and that functions redundantly with the anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome at meiosis I. Our data also indicate that delayed M phase exit in zyg-11(RNAi) embryos is due to accumulation of the B type cyclin CYB-3. We demonstrate that PAR proteins and P granules become polarized in an inverted manner during the meiosis II delay resulting from zyg-11 or cul-2 inactivation, and that zyg-11 and cul-2 can regulate polarity establishment independently of a role in cell cycle progression. Furthermore, we find that microtubules appear dispensable for ectopic polarity during the meiosis II delay in zyg-11(RNAi) embryos, as well as for AP polarity during the first mitotic cell cycle in wild-type embryos. Our findings suggest a model in which a CUL-2-based E3 ligase promotes cell cycle progression and prevents polarity establishment during meiosis II, and in which the centrosome acts as a cue to polarize the embryo along the AP axis after exit from the meiotic cell cycle.

CiteULike
Complore
Connotea
Del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
Technorati
Twitter What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:

|
 |

|
 |
 
Y. Sasagawa, M. Otani, N. Higashitani, A. Higashitani, K. Sato, T. Ogura, and K. Yamanaka
Caenorhabditis elegans p97 controls germline-specific sex determination by controlling the TRA-1 level in a CUL-2-dependent manner
J. Cell Sci.,
October 15, 2009;
122(20):
3663 - 3672.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
E. Munro and B. Bowerman
Cellular Symmetry Breaking during Caenorhabditis elegans Development
Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol,
October 1, 2009;
1(4):
a003400 - a003400.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
Y. Budirahardja and P. Gonczy
Coupling the cell cycle to development
Development,
September 1, 2009;
136(17):
2861 - 2872.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
M. Dorfman, J.-E. Gomes, S. O'Rourke, and B. Bowerman
Using RNA Interference to Identify Specific Modifiers of a Temperature-Sensitive, Embryonic-Lethal Mutation in the Caenorhabditis elegans Ubiquitin-Like Nedd8 Protein Modification Pathway E1-Activating Gene rfl-1
Genetics,
August 1, 2009;
182(4):
1035 - 1049.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
J. R. Tenlen, J. N. Molk, N. London, B. D. Page, and J. R. Priess
MEX-5 asymmetry in one-cell C. elegans embryos requires PAR-4- and PAR-1-dependent phosphorylation
Development,
November 15, 2008;
135(22):
3665 - 3675.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
M.-C. Tsai and J. Ahringer
Microtubules are involved in anterior-posterior axis formation in C. elegans embryos
J. Cell Biol.,
November 5, 2007;
179(3):
397 - 402.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
F. Motegi and G. Seydoux
Revisiting the role of microtubules in C. elegans polarity
J. Cell Biol.,
November 5, 2007;
179(3):
367 - 369.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
U. Wolke, E. A. Jezuit, and J. R. Priess
Actin-dependent cytoplasmic streaming in C. elegans oogenesis
Development,
June 15, 2007;
134(12):
2227 - 2236.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
S. E. Siegrist and C. Q. Doe
Microtubule-induced cortical cell polarity
Genes & Dev.,
March 1, 2007;
21(5):
483 - 496.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
R. Lyczak, L. Zweier, T. Group, M. A. Murrow, C. Snyder, L. Kulovitz, A. Beatty, K. Smith, and B. Bowerman
The puromycin-sensitive aminopeptidase PAM-1 is required for meiotic exit and anteroposterior polarity in the one-cell Caenorhabditis elegans embryo
Development,
November 1, 2006;
133(21):
4281 - 4292.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
W. Chi and V. Reinke
Promotion of oogenesis and embryogenesis in the C. elegans gonad by EFL-1/DPL-1 (E2F) does not require LIN-35 (pRB)
Development,
August 15, 2006;
133(16):
3147 - 3157.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
B. Bowerman and T. Kurz
Degrade to create: developmental requirements for ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis during early C. elegans embryogenesis
Development,
March 1, 2006;
133(5):
773 - 784.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|
© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2004