CELE_C06G3.2, C06G3.2

klp-18 encodes a kinesin motor protein whose motor domain is most similar to that of the Xenopus and human klp2 proteins; loss of klp-18 activity via RNAi indicates that KLP-18 is required for the assembly of a disordered array of acentrosomal (female meiotic) microtubules into an organized, functional, bipolar spindle; in addition, KLP-18 may also play a role in cortex dynamics during post-meiotic development; antibody staining indicates that during meiosis and mitosis (early embryonic) KLP-18 localizes to: 1) spindles, and especially spindle poles, during prometaphase, metaphase, and early anaphase, and 2) the interzone during late anaphase and telophase; in early embryos, KLP-18 is also seen around the nucleus and cell cortex at sites of cell-cell contact; KLP-18 expression in later embryos and larvae is confined to the germ line which, in adults, stains brightly in both distal and proximal regions.

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