PTL-1, a microtubule-associated protein of the structural MAP2/tau family, is the sole member of this gene family in Caenorhabditis elegans. Sequence analysis of available invertebrate genomes revealed a number of single, putative tau-like genes with high similarity to ptl-1. The ptl-1 gene is expressed in a number of cells, most notably mechanosensory neurons. We examined the role of ptl-1 in C. elegans in adult neurons as well as during development. A ptl-1 knockout strain of worms exhibited an egg-hatching defect, as well as a reduced sensitivity to touch stimuli. In addition, the knockout allele ptl-1(ok621) acts as a dominant enhancer of several temperature-sensitive alleles of mec-7 and mec-12, which code the isoforms of beta-tubulin and alpha-tubulin that together form the unusual 15 protofilament microtubules involved in touch sensation. These results demonstrate for the first time a functional role for this microtubule-associated protein in nematodes and suggest that PTL-1 is involved in mechanosensation as well as some aspect of embryogenesis.

中文翻译：

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无脊椎动物微管相关蛋白PTL-1在秀丽隐杆线虫的机械感觉和发育中起作用。

PTL-1是MAP2 / tau结构的微管相关蛋白，是秀丽隐杆线虫中该基因家族的唯一成员。可用无脊椎动物基因组的序列分析揭示了许多与ptl-1高度相似的单个推定的tau样基因。ptl-1基因在许多细胞中表达，最明显的是机械感觉神经元。我们检查了成年神经元以及发育过程中秀丽隐杆线虫中ptl-1的作用。蠕虫的ptl-1敲除菌株表现出卵孵化缺陷，并且对触摸刺激的敏感性降低。此外，敲除等位基因ptl-1（ok621）充当mec-7和mec-12的几个温度敏感等位基因的显性增强子，它们编码β-微管蛋白和α-微管蛋白的同工型，共同形成异常的15触觉中涉及的原丝微管。