unc-104 encodes a novel kinesin paralog that may act as a microtubule-based motor in the nervous system. Neuronal cell lineages and axonogenesis are normal in unc-104 null mutants, but axons have few synaptic vesicles and make only a few small synapses. By contrast, neuron cell bodies have surfeits of similar vesicles tethered together within the cytoplasm. Based on behavioral and cellular phenotypes, we suggest that UNC-104 is a neuron-specific motor used for anterograde translocation of synaptic vesicles along axonal microtubules. Other membrane-bounded organelles are transported normally.
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