Transcription regulatory networks in Caenorhabditis elegans

Gene

Public Gene Name

aly-2  

Sequence Name

F23B2.6  

WB ID

WBGene00000121  

Description

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