[C.elegansII] bn50 : grandchildless, progeny undergo normal embryogenesis but develop into agametic adults(only 10 germ cells made). Normal P granule staining. XO germ line much less affected.OA3: bn23, bn58, bn67 (all similar). [Capowski et al. 1991; SS]
mes-4 encodes a SET domain-containing protein that also contains three plant homeodomain (PHD) fingers; MES-4 is required maternally for normal germline development, but in contrast to MES-2, -3, and -6, does not appear to be required for somatic anteroposterior patterning; in germline development, MES-4 activity is essential for regulating active chromatin states and for excluding the MES-2/MES-3/MES-6 chromatin repression complex from the autosomes; MES-4 is also required for germline silencing of repetitive transgene arrays; MES-4 localizes to autosomes, and is detectable in the distal, mitotic region of the germline, in meiotic germ cells during late pachytene, and in oocytes; MES-4 is detected in all somatic and germline nuclei of the early embryo, but by the 100-cell stage, its expression becomes restricted to the primordial germ cells, Z2 and Z3; exclusion of MES-4 from X chromosomes requires the activity of the MES-2, -3, -6 complex.
Enables histone H3K36 methyltransferase activity. Involved in germ-line sex determination and heterochromatin formation. Acts upstream of or within with a positive effect on dosage compensation by hypoactivation of X chromosome. Located in X chromosome; autosome; and nuclear chromosome. Part of chromatin. Expressed in Z2; Z3; and germ line. Human ortholog(s) of this gene implicated in several diseases, including Sotos syndrome 1; lung non-small cell carcinoma; and neuroblastoma. Is an ortholog of human NSD1 (nuclear receptor binding SET domain protein 1); NSD2 (nuclear receptor binding SET domain protein 2); and NSD3 (nuclear receptor binding SET domain protein 3).