The Observation of the Early Embryo Development in Wild-type and par Mutant of C.elegans

Abstract: Asymmetric divisions play important roles in the development of plants and animals. The first two embryonic cleavages of Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) provide an opportunity to study the mechanisms controlling asymmetric divisions. In this article， early embryogenesis of wide type and par-1 through par-4 mutant are observed by microscope. The first cleavage of wild type embryo is unequal， producing daughters with different sizes. The daughter blastomeres divide with different orientations of spindles. Loss-of-function mutations in any par locus results in loss of anterior-posterior (AP) asymmetries during the first two embryonic cell divisions. This results in a failure to restrict developmental regulators to specific embryonic cells and mitotic spindle orientation defects. In sum， the par genes appear responsible for establishing asymmetries that define the AP body axis in C.elegans.

CSTR: 32200.14.cjcb.2005.06.0026