Coordination of Recombination with Meiotic Progression in the Caenorhabditis elegans Germline by KIN-18, a TAO Kinase That Regulates the Timing of MPK-1 Signaling
Meiosis is a tightly regulated process requiring coordination of diverse events. A conserved ERK/MAPK signaling cascade plays an essential role in the regulation of meiotic progression. The Thousand And One kinase (TAO) kinase is a MAPK kinase kinase whose meiotic role is unknown. We have analyzed the meiotic functions of KIN-18, the homolog of mammalian TAO kinases, in Caenorhabditis elegans. We found that KIN-18 is essential for normal meiotic progression; mutants exhibit accelerated meiotic recombination as detected both by analysis of recombination intermediates and by crossover outcome. In addition, ectopic germ cell differentiation and enhanced levels of apoptosis were observed in kin-18 mutants. These defects correlate with ectopic activation of MPK-1 that includes premature, missing and reoccurring MPK-1 activation. Late progression defects in kin-18 mutants are suppressed by inhibiting an upstream activator of MPK-1 signaling, KSR-2. However, the acceleration of recombination events observed in kin-18 mutants is largely MPK-1 independent. Our data suggest KIN-18 coordinates meiotic progression by modulating the timing of MPK-1 activation and the progression of recombination events. The regulation of the timing of MPK-1 activation ensures the proper timing of apoptosis and is required for the formation of functional oocytes. Meiosis is a conserved process; thus, revealing that KIN-18 is a novel regulator of meiotic progression in C. elegans would help to elucidate TAO kinase's role in germline development in higher eukaryotes.
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science
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5%
Earth and Planetary Sciences
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Social Sciences
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Other
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11%
Unknown
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16%
Attention Score in Context
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 4. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 12 August 2016.
All research outputs
#8,231,039
of 27,786,078 outputs
Outputs from Genetics
#3,192
of 7,828 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#89,025
of 297,977 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Genetics
#51
of 92 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 27,786,078 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 69th percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 7,828 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 8.4. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 57% of its peers.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 92 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 43rd percentile – i.e., 43% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
