THE CAENORHABDITIS-ELEGANS GENE LIN-44 CONTROLS THE POLARITY OF ASYMMETRIC CELL DIVISIONS

The generation and orientation of cellular and organismic polarity are fundamental aspects of development. Mutations in the gene lin-44 of t he nematode Caenorhabditis elegans reverse both the relative positions of specific sister cells and the apparent polarities of these cells. Thus, lin-44 mutants appear to generate polar cells but to misorient t hese cells along the body axis of the animal. We postulate that lin-44 acts to specify the orientation of polar cells.