CELE_Y108G3AL.7, Y108G3AL.7

ARID (AT-rich Interactive Domain-containing protein) homolog

CELE_Y18D10A.17, lsm-14, Y18D10A.17

car-1 encodes a putative RNA-binding protein orthologous to budding yeast Scd6p, fission yeast Sum2p, Drosophila TRAL, and human LSM14A and LSM14B; CAR-1 inhibits physiological apoptosis in oocytes, keeping it down to a normal level of ~50% in hermaphrodite gonads; independently of apoptosis, CAR-1 is also required for normal oogenesis, early embryonic cytokinesis, and normally organized endoplasmic reticulum (ER); CAR-1 has an N-terminal Sm-related domain that is dispensable for subcellular localization, but directly binds RNA and is critical for CAR-1's function; CAR-1 expressed in the germline; CAR-1 associates with CGH-1, DCAP-1, and CEY-2/3/4, in P granules and other cytoplasmic particles of the early embryo; CAR-1 also localizes to the mitotic spindle of dividing 1-cell embryos, and to ER; CAR-1 requires CGH-1 for normal localization in meiotic germ cells, and binds CGH-1 in an RNA-dependent manner; car-1(tm1753) or car-1(RNAi) embryos display abnormal cytokinesis, with aberrant cleavage furrow ingression and anaphase spindle structure, and mislocalized AIR-2, SPD-1, and ZEN-4; car-1(RNAi) also results in elevated (though not 100%) physiological germ cell apoptosis, reduced fertility, and failed oocyte diakinesis; maternal CAR-1 is sufficient to rescue car-1(tm1753) homozygotes through development to adulthood; in car-1(RNAi) animals, excess physiological apoptosis actually promotes fertility, since car-1(RNAi) hermaphrodites have larger brood sizes than those with apoptosis suppressed by ced-3(n717).