Figure 3

pod-2 encodes acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) which, along with fatty acid synthase (FAS), is required for anterior-posterior polarity. (A) Schematic representation of the POD-2/ACC protein indicating regions homologous with ACC of other species. The number below each box represents the percent amino acid identity between POD-2 and human ACC1 in that domain. (B) RNA-interference of W09B6.1/ACC phenocopies the symmetric division of pod-2(ye60) mutant embryos. (C) Overview of the fatty acid biosynthetic pathway. ACC and FAS catalyze the first two committed steps in fatty acid biosynthesis. Supplementary fatty acids can feed into this pathway where they become interconverted through the action of elongases and desaturases. Ultimately fatty acids can become incorporated into lipids or can be catabolized for metabolic energy. (D-H) Images of embryos depleted of fatty acid synthase (FAS) by RNA-interference. Loss of FAS function causes embryos to (D) divide symmetrically at the first division (17/19 embryos) and results in mislocalization of PAR-3 (E and G) and germline granules (F and H). RNAi of FAS causes PAR-3 to either lose cortical localization (E; 15/33 embryos) or to become more symmetric about the cortex (G; 10/33 embryos). Germline granules are missegregated to the center of the embryo (F; 14/33 embryos) or to a lateral location (H; 2/33).