"To explore whether loss of UNG-1 influences stress-induced responses, we subjected the animals to ionizing radiation (IR) which generates cytosine oxidation products, such as alloxane, isodialuric acid, and 5,6-dihydrouracil, that are substrates for UNG-family enzymes [7]... fIonizing radiation induces CEP-1 dependent DNA damage induced germ-cell apoptosis through upregulation of the proapoptotic BH3 domain containing proteins
egl-1 and
ced-13 [30-32]. Both
egl-1 and
ced-13 expression were induced as measured by qRT-PCR. In agreement with the increased number of germ-cell corpses in the
ung-1 mutant, induction of
ced-13 expression was more pronounced in the
ung-1 mutant with about 180-fold induction compared to 150-fold in the wild type (Fig. 5B)."