Initiation of postembryonic development is an important event for normal C. elegans development. Extrinsic factors affect development as well as intrinsic developmental cues. In order to investigate the molecular basis of initiation of postembryonic development, a genetic screen was performed to identify temperature-sensitive mutants that cannot initiate the cell divisions associated with postembryonic development at the restrictive temperature. Hydroxyurea (HU), a DNA replication inhibitor, was used as a tool to select against worms that initiate postembryonic cell divisions and/or the developmental program. 1,600,000 haploid genomes were screened, and 20 mutants have been isolated. 6 of them have been mapped to a relatively small genetic interval, and one inx-6 has been cloned and encodes an innexin family protein. Mutation of inx-6 caused abnormalities in pharyngeal pumping, resulting in worms that could not feed. The functions of a cyclin B homologue (ZC168.4) in postembryonic development have also been studied since cyclin B mutants also have postembryonic developmental arrest phenotype. Results indicate that zygotic expression of cyclin B is absolutely required for normal postembryonic development. Moreover, we found a novel function of this cyclin B homologue, which demonstrates an uncommon paternal effect required for spermatogenesis and/or fertilization.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.33799 |
| Date | January 2001 |
| Creators | Li, Shaolin, 1973- |
| Contributors | Roy, Richard (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Biology.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001871404, proquestno: MQ78916, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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