The puromycin-sensitive aminopeptidase, PAM-1, is necessary for timely meiotic exit and proper establishment of the anterior-posterior axis in one-cell embryos. We have identified a mutation in
wee-1.3 as a suppressor of
pam-1. WEE-1.3 is a cell-cycle regulator that is involved in oocyte maturation. While only 2% of embryos laid by
pam-1 mutant worms survive, the presence of the
wee-1.3(
lz5) suppressor restores the hatch rate to approximately 50%. Polarization of these double mutants is improved as compared with
pam-1 mutants alone. For instance, the presence of embryos exhibiting polarization as seen by pseudocleavage, PAR protein localization, and an asymmetric first cleavage are all significantly increased. To test if there are additional interactions between these genes, we looked at the role of WEE-1.3 during oocyte maturation. Worms treated with
wee-1.3(RNAi) become sterile within 24 hours due to precocious oocyte maturation. However,
pam-1 worms treated with the same RNAi are protected against this sterility and lay a comparable number of embryos to
pam-1(
or347) mutants alone. In addition, precocious oocyte maturation is not observed after
wee-1.3(RNAi) treatment in
pam-1(
or347) worms when oocyte maturation markers were examined. Taken together, these data suggest that
pam-1 and
wee-1.3 interact during both oocyte maturation and early embryogenesis.