Developmental stage- and DNA damage-specific functions of C. elegans FANCD2

In this study, we set out to investigate the role of Fanconi anemia complementation group D2 protein (FANCD2) in developmental stage-specific DNA damage responses in Caenorhabditis elegans. A mutant C. elegans strain containing a deletion in the gene encoding the FANCD2 homolog, FCD-2, exhibited egg-laying defects, precocious oogenesis, and partial defects in fertilization. The mutant strain also had a lower hatching rate than the wild-type after gamma-irradiation of embryos, but not after the irradiation of pachytene stage germ cells. This mutation sensitized pachytene stage germ cells to the genotoxic effects of photoactivated psoralen, as seen by a greatly reduced hatching rate and increased chromosomal aberrations. This mutation also enhanced physiological M-phase arrest and apoptosis. Taken together, our data reveal that the C. elegans FANCD2 homolog participates in the repair of spontaneous DNA damage and DNA crosslinks, not only in proliferating cells but also in pachytene stage cells, and it may have an additional role in double-stranded DNA break repair during embryogenesis.