Genetics, Vol. 177, 655-660, September 2007, Copyright © 2007
doi:10.1534/genetics.107.075762

Autophagy Genes unc-51 and bec-1 Are Required for Normal Cell Size in Caenorhabditis elegans

István Aladzsity*, Márton L. Tóth*, Tímea Sigmond*, Emese Szabó*, Bertalan Bicsák*, János Barna*, Ágnes Regos*, László Orosz*, Attila L. Kovács{dagger} and Tibor Vellai*,1

* Department of Genetics, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary and {dagger} Department of Anatomy, Cell and Developmental Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, H-1117 Hungary

1 Corresponding author: Department of Genetics, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter stny. 1/C, Budapest, H-1117, Hungary.
E-mail: vellai{at}falco.elte.hu

Here we show that in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans mutational inactivation of two autophagy genes unc-51/atg1 and bec-1/atg6/beclin1 results in small body size without affecting cell number. Furthermore, loss-of-function mutations in unc-51 and bec-1 suppress the giant phenotype of mutant animals with aberrant insulin-like growth factor-1 (insulin/IGF-1) or transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß) signaling. This function for unc-51 and bec-1 in cell size control and their interaction with these two growth modulatory pathways may represent a link between the hormonal and nutritional regulation of cell growth.