TY - CHAP
T1 - Germ cell specification
AU - Wang, Jennifer T.
AU - Seydoux, Geraldine
N1 - Funding Information:
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.
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - Cell fate
KW - Germ granules
KW - Germ plasm
KW - Germline blastomeres
KW - Maternal RNA
KW - P lineage
KW - Polarity
KW - Primordial germ cells
KW - Transcriptional repression
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U2 - 10.1007/978-1-4614-4015-4_2
DO - 10.1007/978-1-4614-4015-4_2
M3 - Chapter
C2 - 22872473
AN - SCOPUS:84867551576
SN - 9781461440147
T3 - Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology
SP - 17
EP - 39
BT - Germ Cell Development in C. elegans
PB - Springer Science and Business Media, LLC
ER -