In dauer animals, expression was observed in the intestine, five neurons, and faintly in the hypodermis. Intestinal expression starts from the posterior in uncommitted L2d and spreads throughout the entire intestine after dauer-commitment. Intestinal expression peaks in intensity during dauer, dims in starved and aged dauers, and disappears from the center of the intestine in post-dauer L4s. Neuronal expression is detectable in 58% of the dauer-committed L2d (n = 15/26), and exists in all dauers (n = 31). The neurons consist of one pair immediately anterior to the terminal bulb of the pharynx, with processes that end in the nerve ring, and one triplet approximately one cell body diameter posterior to the metacorpus, with processes that end in the nose. Based on their positions and morphologies, the best candidates for the neuron identities include: ADF, ADL, AFD, AIA, AIB, ASG, ASH, ASI, ASK, AWA, AWB, AWC, BAG, IL1, IL2, and OLQ. Using colocalization markers, we eliminated AIB, AWC, BAG, IL1, IL2, and OLQ as the
ets-10-expressing neurons. The precise identities of the neurons remain unknown.