High impact information on dpy-18

• The genome of Caenorhabditis elegans possesses two genes, dpy-18 and phy-2, that encode alpha subunits of the enzyme prolyl 4-hydroxylase [1].
• Interference with phy-1 resulted in a morphologically dumpy phenotype, which we determined to be identical to the uncharacterized dpy-18 locus [2].
• Two dpy-18 mutant strains were shown to have null alleles for phy-1 and to have a reduced hydroxyproline content in their exoskeleton collagens [2].
• The phy-3 gene consists of five exons, and its expression pattern differs distinctly from the hypodermally expressed phy-1 and phy-2 in that it is expressed in embryos, late larval stages, and adult nematodes, expression in the latter being restricted to the spermatheca [3].
• High-resolution polymorphism mapping was used to place the Caenorhabditis elegans dpy-18 gene on the physical map, and we show that it encodes a prolyl-4-hydroxylase alpha catalytic subunit [4].

Biological context of dpy-18

• A similar ray morphology phenotype was observed in males harboring mutations in three previously defined genes, dpy-11, dpy-18 and sqt-1, that also affect body shape [5].
• Furthermore, dpy-18 RNA interference (RNAi) in wild-type worms results in Dpy progeny, while dpy-18 (RNAi) in dpy-18(e499) mutants does not alter the Dpy phenotype of their progeny [4].

Other interactions of dpy-18

• The mixed tetramer is the main P4H form in wild-type C. elegans but phy-2-/- and phy-1-/- (dpy-18) mutant nematodes can compensate for its absence by increasing the assembly of the PHY-1/PDI-2 and PHY-2/PDI-2 dimers, respectively [6].

References