Abstract
The intestinal cells of Caenorhabditis elegans embryos contain prominent, birefringent gut granules that we show are lysosome-related organelles. Gut granules are labeled by lysosomal markers, and their formation is disrupted in embryos depleted of AP-3 subunits, VPS-16, and VPS-41. We define a class of gut granule loss (glo) mutants that are defective in gut granule biogenesis. We show that the glo-1 gene encodes a predicted Rab GTPase that localizes to lysosome-related gut granules in the intestine and that glo-4 encodes a possible GLO-1 guanine nucleotide exchange factor. These and other glo genes are homologous to genes implicated in the biogenesis of specialized, lysosome-related organelles such as melanosomes in mammals and pigment granules in Drosophila. The glo mutants thus provide a simple model system for the analysis of lysosome-related organelle biogenesis in animal cells.
Publication types
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Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
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Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
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Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
MeSH terms
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Acridine Orange / pharmacology
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Adaptor Protein Complex 3
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Alleles
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Amino Acid Sequence
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Animals
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Biological Transport
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Body Size
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Caenorhabditis elegans
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Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / chemistry
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Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / genetics*
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Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / physiology
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DNA-Binding Proteins / genetics
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Drosophila
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Epistasis, Genetic
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GTP Phosphohydrolases / metabolism
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Genes, Helminth
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Genes, Reporter
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Green Fluorescent Proteins / metabolism
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Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors / genetics*
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Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors / metabolism
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Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors / physiology
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Intestinal Mucosa / metabolism
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Lysosomes / metabolism*
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Melanosomes / metabolism
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Microscopy, Fluorescence
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Models, Genetic
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Molecular Sequence Data
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Mutation
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Phenotype
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Protein Transport
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Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
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Temperature
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Transcription Factors / genetics
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rab GTP-Binding Proteins / genetics
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rab GTP-Binding Proteins / metabolism*
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rab GTP-Binding Proteins / physiology
Substances
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Adaptor Protein Complex 3
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Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins
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DNA-Binding Proteins
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Glo-4 protein, C elegans
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Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors
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Transcription Factors
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Green Fluorescent Proteins
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GTP Phosphohydrolases
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Glo-1 protein, C elegans
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rab GTP-Binding Proteins
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Acridine Orange