On the control of germ cell development in Caenorhabditis elegans☆

[摘要] Afterhatching,thegermlineprogenitorcellsinC.elegansbegintodividemitotically;later,someofthegermlinecellsentermeiosisanddifferentiateintogametes.Intheadult,mitoticgermcells,orstemcells,arefoundatoneend(thedistalend)andmeioticcellsoccupytherestoftheelongategonad.Removaloftwosomaticgonadalcells,thedistaltipcells,bylasermicrosurgeryhasadramaticeffectongermcelldevelopment.Ineithersex,thisoperationleadstothearrestofmitosisandtheinitiationofmeiosisingermcells.Thefunctionofthedistaltipcellintheintactanimalappearstobetheinhibitionofmeiosis(orstimulationofmitosis)innearbygermcells.Duringdevelopment,thispermitsgrowthand,intheadult,itmaintainsthegermlinestemcellpopulation.Achangeinthepositionofthedistaltipcellinthegonadatanearlypointindevelopmentiscorrelatedwithachangeintheaxialpolarityofthegermlinetissue.Thissuggeststhatthelocalizationofthedistaltipcell'sinhibitoryactivityatthedistalendofthegonadestablishestheaxialpolarityofthegermlinetissueintheintactanimal.

[学科分类] 生物科学（综合）