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Germ Cell Specification

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Germ Cell Development in C. elegans

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 757))

Abstract

The germline of Caenorhabditis elegans derives from a single founder cell, the germline blastomere P4. P4 is the product of four asymmetric cleavages that divide the zygote into distinct somatic and germline (P) lineages. P4 inherits a specialized cytoplasm (“germ plasm”) containing maternally encoded proteins and RNAs. The germ plasm has been hypothesized to specify germ cell fate, but the mechanisms involved remain unclear. Three processes stand out: (1) inhibition of mRNA transcription to prevent activation of somatic development, (2) translational regulation of the nanos homolog nos-2 and of other germ plasm mRNAs, and (3) establishment of a unique, partially repressive chromatin. Together, these processes ensure that the daughters of P4, the primordial germ cells Z2 and Z3, gastrulate inside the embryo, associate with the somatic gonad, initiate the germline transcriptional program, and proliferate during larval development to generate ∼2,000 germ cells by adulthood.

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Acknowledgments

We thank members of the Seydoux lab for helpful discussions. We gratefully acknowledge funding from NIH (T32 HD007276 to J.W. and HD037047 to G.S.) and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

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  1. Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Center for Cell Dynamics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 725 North Wolfe Street, PCTB 706, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Jennifer T. Wang & Geraldine Seydoux

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  1. Jennifer T. Wang
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  2. Geraldine Seydoux
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Correspondence to Geraldine Seydoux .

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  1. , Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, 4566 Scott Avenue, St. Louis, 63130, Missouri, USA

    Tim Schedl

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Wang, J.T., Seydoux, G. (2013). Germ Cell Specification. In: Schedl, T. (eds) Germ Cell Development in C. elegans. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 757. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4015-4_2

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