In unirradiated wild-type animals, only very low levels of
ced-13 mRNA was consistently detected. However, when wild-type animals was treated with increasing doses of IR(ionizing radiation),
ced-13 transcript was induced up to 10-fold. The dose-dependent induction of
ced-13 was comparable to
egl-1 induction. To examine whether
ced-13 mRNA accumulation was confined to germ cells, mRNA levels in
glp-4(
bn2) mutants was examined following IR treatment.
glp-4(
bn2) mutants grown at 25C lack germ cells, whereas those grown at 15C possess a germ line. At 15C,
glp-4 animals exposed to IR accumulated
ced-13 transcript as in wild-type animals. However,
glp-4 mutants grown at 25 centigrades did not accumulate
ced-13 mRNA following IR exposure. These results suggest that
ced-13 accumulation after IR treatment occurs primarily in the germ line.