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Analysis of the C. elegans Germline Stem Cell Pool

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Germline Stem Cells

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1463))

Abstract

The Caenorhabditis elegans germline is an excellent model for studying the regulation of a pool of stem cells and progression of cells from a stem cell state to a differentiated state. At the tissue level, the germline is organized in an assembly line with the germline stem cell (GSC) pool at one end and differentiated cells at the other. A simple mesenchymal niche caps the GSC region of the germline and maintains GSCs in an undifferentiated state by signaling through the conserved Notch pathway. Downstream of Notch signaling, key regulators include novel LST-1 and SYGL-1 proteins and a network of RNA regulatory proteins. In this chapter we present methods for characterizing the C. elegans GSC pool and early germ cell differentiation. The methods include examination of the germline in living and fixed worms, cell cycle analysis, and analysis of markers. We also discuss assays to separate mutants that affect the stem cell vs. differentiation decision from those that affect germ cell processes more generally.

Electronic supplementary material: The online version of this chapter (doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-4017-2_1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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  1. HHMI/Department of Biochemistry, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and University of Wisconsin-Madison, 433 Babcock Drive, Madison, WI, 53706-1544, USA

    Sarah L. Crittenden, Hannah S. Seidel & Judith Kimble

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  1. Sarah L. Crittenden
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  2. Hannah S. Seidel
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  3. Judith Kimble
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Correspondence to Sarah L. Crittenden .

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  1. Department of Molecular Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA

    Michael Buszczak

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Crittenden, S.L., Seidel, H.S., Kimble, J. (2017). Analysis of the C. elegans Germline Stem Cell Pool. In: Buszczak, M. (eds) Germline Stem Cells. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1463. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-4017-2_1

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