mex-1 and the general partitioning of cell fate in the early C. elegans embryo

It is thought that at least some of the initial specification of the five somatic founder cells of the C. elegans embryo occurs cell-autonomously through the segregation of factors during cell divisions. It has been suggested that in embryos from mothers homozygous for mutations in the maternal-effe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Mechanisms of development 1996-02, Vol.54 (2), p.133-147
Main Authors: Schnabel, Ralf, Weigner, Christiane, Hutter, Harald, Feichtinger, Richard, Schnabel, Heinke
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alleles
Animals
Blastomeres
C. elegans embryo
Caenorhabditis elegans - embryology
Caenorhabditis elegans - genetics
Cell Division - genetics
Cell lineage analysis
Embryo, Nonmammalian - cytology
Genomic Imprinting
Intestines - cytology
Intestines - embryology
mex-1
Mothers
Muscles - cytology
Muscles - embryology
Mutation
Pharynx - cytology
Pharynx - embryology
Phenotype
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Summary:It is thought that at least some of the initial specification of the five somatic founder cells of the C. elegans embryo occurs cell-autonomously through the segregation of factors during cell divisions. It has been suggested that in embryos from mothers homozygous for mutations in the maternal-effect gene mex-1, four blastomeres of the 8-cell embryo adopt the fate of the MS blastomere. It was proposed that mex-1 functions to localise or regulate factors that determine the fate of this blastomere. Here, a detailed cell lineage analysis of 9 mex-1 mutants reveals that the fates of all somatic founder cells are affected by mutations in this gene. We propose that mex-1, like the par genes, is involved in establishing the initial polarity of the embryo.
ISSN:0925-4773
1872-6356
DOI:10.1016/0925-4773(95)00466-1