Binary specification of the embryonic lineage in Caenorhabditis elegans

被引:133
作者
Kaletta, T [1 ]
Schnabel, H [1 ]
Schnabel, R [1 ]
机构
[1] MAX PLANCK INST BIOCHEM,D-82152 MARTINSRIED,GERMANY
关键词
D O I
10.1038/36869
中图分类号
O [数理科学和化学]; P [天文学、地球科学]; Q [生物科学]; N [自然科学总论];
学科分类号
07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;
摘要
In Caenorhabditis elegans, the early embryo contains five somatic founder cells (known as AB, MS, E, C and D) which give rise to very different lineages, Two simply produce twenty intestinal (E) or muscle (D) cells each, whereas the remainder produce a total of 518 cells which collectively contribute in a complex pattern to a variety of tissues(1). A central problem in embryonic development is to understand how the developmental potential of blastomeres is restricted to permit the terminal expression of such complex differentiation patterns, Here we identify a gene, lit-1, that appears to play a central role in controlling the asymmetry of cell division during embryogenesis in C. elegans. Mutants in lit-1 suggest that its product controls up to six consecutive binary snitches which cause one of the two equivalent cells produced at each cleavage to assume a posterior fate. Most blastomere identities in C, elegans may therefore stem from a process of stepwise binary diversification.
引用
收藏
页码:294 / 298
页数:5
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