Chromatin silencing and the maintenance of a functional germline in Caenorhabditis elegans.
Chromatin silencing and the maintenance of a functional germline in Caenorhabditis elegans.
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作者：
W. G. Kelly;A. Fire
秀丽隐杆线虫的生殖系表现出特异性沉默转基因DNA的显著能力。我们已经证明，这种沉默机制在动物突变体中被破坏，为母系效应不育基因mes-2，mes-3，mes-4和mes-6。由mes-2和mes-6编码的蛋白质已显示与转录阻遏物的Polycomb组相关（Holdeman，R.，Nehrt，S.和Strome，S.（1998年）。Development 125，2457-2467; Korf，I.，范，F.和Strome，S.（1998年）。Development 125，2469-2478）。这些结果表明，遗传沉默过程是至关重要的持续生殖功能，这种沉默是介导的，至少部分，由Polycomb组蛋白。
The germline of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans exhibits a remarkable ability to specifically silence transgenic DNA. We have shown that this silencing mechanism is disrupted in animals mutant for the maternal effect sterile genes mes-2, mes-3, mes-4 and mes-6. The proteins encoded by mes-2 and mes-6 have been shown to be related to the Polycomb Group of transcriptional repressors (Holdeman, R., Nehrt, S. and Strome, S. (1998). Development 125, 2457-2467; Korf, I., Fan, F. and Strome, S. (1998). Development 125, 2469-2478). These results suggest that a genetic silencing process is essential for sustained germline function, and that this silencing is mediated, at least in part, by Polycomb Group proteins.