The SQV-1 UDP-glucuronic acid decarboxylase and the SQV-7 nucleotide-sugar transporter may act in the Golgi apparatus to affect Caenorhabditis elegans vulval morphogenesis and embryonic development

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Abstract
Recent findings indicate that glycosaminoglycans can play important roles in animal development. The genes sqv-3, -7, and -8, which are necessary for vulval morphogenesis in Caenorhabditis elegans, affect the biosynthesis of chondroitin and heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycans. We cloned sqv-1 and showed that the SQV-1 protein is a type II transmembrane protein that functions as a UDP-glucuronic acid decarboxylase. SQV-1 localizes to punctate cytoplasmic compartments and colocalizes with the SQV-7 nucleotide-sugar transporter, which probably acts in the Golgi apparatus. SQV-1 and SQV-7 are both expressed in the vulva and in oocytes, where they likely act in vulval morphogenesis and embryonic development, respectively. Progeny of sqv-7 and sqv-1 null mutants fail to initiate cytokinesis, possibly because they are unable to separate the plasma membrane from the eggshell, a defect analogous to that of incomplete vulval invagination.