CELE_C09G9.6, moe-1, C09G9.6

oma-1 encodes a zinc finger protein of the TIS11 finger type that is paralogous to OMA-2; while either oma-1 or oma-2 individually have no obvious mutant phenotype, oma-1 and oma-2 doubly mutant animals show defects in oocyte maturation, indicating that the two genes function redundantly in this process; whereas normal oocytes are released from meiotic prophase I arrest during oocyte maturation, oma-1;oma-2 mutant oocytes initiate, but fail to complete, maturation, arresting at a defined point in meiotic prophase I; the meiotic arrest of oma-1;oma-2 mutant oocytes is suppressed by wee-1.3(RNAi), implying that progression through meiotic prophase I is critically dependent on inhibition of WEE-1.3 by either OMA-1 or OMA-2; OMA-1 is expressed primarily in maturing oocytes, is cytoplasmic and visible prior to cellularization.

42811

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