Transcription regulatory networks in Caenorhabditis elegans

Gene

Public Gene Name

aly-1  

Sequence Name

C01F6.5  

WB ID

WBGene00000120  

Description

aly-1 encodes an RRM motif-containing protein required for normal export of TRA-1/tra-2 mRNA complexes, and thus for normal hermaphroditism; ALY-1 is orthologous to human THOC4 (OMIM:604171), and paralogous to ALY-2 and ALY-3; in the absence of TRA-1, and in conjunction with NXF-2, ALY-1 and its paralog ALY-2 are required to bind the TRE 3' UTR element of tra-2 mRNA, and block tra-2 mRNA's export from the nucleus; ALY-1 and NXF-2 bind the TRE element in vitro; ALY-1 is also bound competitively by either NXF-2 or TRA-1 in vitro; aly-1(RNAi) animals have abnormal female (as opposed to hermaphrodite) sexual phenotypes; by orthology, ALY-1 is thought to promote recruitment of mRNA export factor to mRNAs; other than these sex-determination phenotypes, ALY-1 has no grossly obvious function in four-way RNAi assays of ALY-1/-3 and W04D2.6.