This entry represents a group of serine/threonine-protein kinases, including Fused from fruit flies, TIO from Arabidopsis, STK36 from animals and TsuA from Dictyostelium discoideum.In Drosophila, Fused kinase is maternally required for proper segmentation during embryonic development and for the development of legs and wings during the larval stage []. STK36 is involved in the Hedgehog signaling pathway []. It is activated by the Smoothened (SMO) signal transducer, resulting in the stabilisation of GLI transcription factors and the phosphorylation of SUFU to facilitate the nuclear accumulation of GLI [, ]. In mice, STK36 is not necessary for embryonic development, although mice deficient in STK36 display growth retardation postnatally []. In Dictyostelium discoideum, TsuA is required for polarisation and chemotaxis []. In plants, TIO is tightly localised to the midline of the nascent phragmoplast and remains associated with the expanding phragmoplast ring. It plays a role in conventional modes of cytokinesis in meristems and during male gametogenesis and also acts in nonconventional modes of cytokinesis (cellularisation) during female gametogenesis [, ].
