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Updated: Jun 27, 2026

Determining the Role of Maternally-Expressed Genes in Early Development with Maternal Crispants
Published on: December 21, 2021
CGH-1 and the control of maternal mRNAs
Purusharth Rajyaguru1, Roy Parker
1Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721-0106, USA.
Abstract:
Development requires the translation of stored maternal messenger RNAs (mRNAs) in a spatial and temporally specified manner. Maternal mRNAs are often in large RNA-protein (RNP) granules. Recent papers reveal that maternal mRNA granules in Caenorhabditis elegans oocytes and early development are dynamic and related to P-bodies and stress granules, which are conserved RNP granules seen in somatic cells. In addition, a highly conserved putative RNA helicase, termed CGH-1 in C. elegans, is now shown to be important for both for translation repression and the stability of stored mRNAs. The analysis of CGH-1 ortholog functions in somatic cells and its interacting proteins indicate possible mechanisms by which this protein family might stabilize stored maternal mRNAs.
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