Caenorhabditis elegans Chk2-like gene is essential for meiosis but dispensable for DNA repair.

A Chk2-like gene was identified in the genome of Caenorhabditis elegans. The putative gene product, termed Ce-chk-2 consists of 450 amino acid residues, and shows good homology with the Chk2/Cds1 gene family. The results of RNA-mediated interference (RNAi) indicated that the F1 generation from dsRNA injected animals grew to adulthood, but approximately 95% of their eggs (F2) died during early embryogenesis. Among the few surviving progeny, males (XO animals) arose at an abnormally high frequency (30%). In addition, 12 univalents were observed in full grown oocytes of the F1, while six bivalents were normally observed in wild-type oocytes. Ce-chk-2 gene expression increased in the adult stage, and their expression level decreased in the glp-4 mutant, which is defective in germ line proliferation. The radiation sensitivity of F1 embryos carrying Ce-chk-2 RNAi was not significantly affected.