lys-7 encodes an enzyme homologous to an antimicrobial lysozyme encoded by the LYS4 gene of the protozoan parasite Entamoeba histolytica; LYS-7 functions in the innate immune response as an antimicrobial enzyme that, by homology, hydrolyzes the 1,4-beta-linkages between N-acetyl-D-glucosamine and N-acetylmuramic acid in peptidoglycan heteropolymers of prokaryotic cell walls; loss of lys-7 activity results in enhanced susceptibility to P. aeruginosa PA14, renders worms susceptible to Cryptococcus neoformans killing, but enhances tolerance to the enteric bacteria Salmonella typhimurium; lys-7 expression is significantly upregulated in response to infection with the Gram-negative bacterium Serratia marcescens; constitutive expression of lys-7 mRNA is detected in the intestine and the intestinal valve cells.
Map position created from combination of previous interpolated map position (based on known location of sequence) and allele information. Therefore this is not a genetic map position based on recombination frequencies or genetic experiments. This was done on advice of the CGC.