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Updated: May 3, 2026

Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Active ERK in the C. elegans Germline
Published on: November 29, 2016
CDK phosphorylation of SLD-2 is required for replication initiation and germline development in C. elegans
Vincent Gaggioli1, Eva Zeiser, David Rivers
1Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute, 2 Department of Genetics, and 3 Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QN, England, UK.
None:
Cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) plays a vital role in proliferation control across eukaryotes. Despite this, how CDK mediates cell cycle and developmental transitions in metazoa is poorly understood. In this paper, we identify orthologues of Sld2, a CDK target that is important for DNA replication in yeast, and characterize SLD-2 in the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans. We demonstrate that SLD-2 is required for replication initiation and the nuclear retention of a critical component of the replicative helicase CDC-45 in embryos. SLD-2 is a CDK target in vivo, and phosphorylation regulates the interaction with another replication factor, MUS-101. By mutation of the CDK sites in sld-2, we show that CDK phosphorylation of SLD-2 is essential in C. elegans. Finally, using a phosphomimicking sld-2 mutant, we demonstrate that timely CDK phosphorylation of SLD-2 is an important control mechanism to allow normal proliferation in the germline. These results determine an essential function of CDK in metazoa and identify a developmental role for regulated SLD-2 phosphorylation.
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