Document Actions
The establishment of Caenorhabditis eleg ... nd distal somatic gonad signals
The establishment of Caenorhabditis elegans germline pattern is controlled by overlapping proximal and distal somatic gonad signals
5384
We investigated the control of proliferation and differentiation in the larval Caenorhabditis elegans hermaphrodite germ line through analysis of glp-1 and lag-2 mutants, cell ablations, and ultrastructural data. After the first several rounds of germ cell division, GLP-1, a receptor of the LIN-12/Notch family, governs germline proliferation. We analyzed the proximal proliferation (Pro) phenotype in glp-1(ar202) and found that initial meiosis was delayed and spatially mispositioned. This is due, at least in part, to a heightened response of the mutant GLP-1 receptor to multiple sources of the somatic ligand LAG-2, including the proximal somatic gonad. We investigated whether proximal LAG-2 affects germline proliferation in the wild type. Our results indicate that (1) LAG-2 is necessary for GLP-1-mediated germline proliferation and prevention of early meiosis, and (2) several distinct anatomical sources of LAG-2 in the larval somatic gonad functionally overlap to promote proliferation and prevent early meiosis. Ultrastructural studies suggest that mitosis is not restricted to areas of direct DTC-germ line contact and that the germ line shares a common cytoplasm in larval stages. We propose that downregulation of the GLP-1 signaling pathway in the proximal germ line at the time of meiotic onset is under tight temporal and spatial control.
Pepper AS, Lo TW, Killian DJ, Hall DH, Hubbard EJ
Developmental biology
2003-07-15 00:00
259
2
336-50
Animals,Body Patterning,Caenorhabditis elegans,Cell Differentiation,Cell Division,Cell Lineage,Female,Germ Cells,Gonads,Helminth Proteins,Hermaphroditism,Larva,Male,Models, Biological,Mutation,Phenotype,Signal Transduction,Temperature,Helminth Proteins
Department of Biology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA.
Dev. Biol.
NIGMS GM61706, NCRR RR 12596
0012-1606
S0012160603002033
0
False
12871705
