WormBase Tree Display for Expr_pattern: Expr3230

Expr3230 Expression_of: Gene: WBGene00001159
    Reflects_endogenous_expression_of: WBGene00001159
  Expression_data: Life_stage: WBls:0000024
      WBls:0000038
      WBls:0000027
      WBls:0000035
      WBls:0000041
      WBls:0000015
      WBls:0000021
    Anatomy_term: WBbt:0005733 Certain
    GO_term: GO:0005737
      GO:0016324
  Subcellular_localization: In the bean-stage preelongation embryo of a wild-type strain, EFF-1::GFP was initially seen in a punctate but unpolarized pattern in cells of the ventral and dorsal hypodermis. As expression increased, a uniform cytoplasmic fluorescence appeared surrounding the bright punctate bodies (possibly endoplasmic reticulum or Golgi apparatus). Isolated EFF-1::GFP-expressing cells, with no brightly expressing neighbors, retained an unpolarized distribution of fluorescence. In contrast, EFF-1::GFP became discretely and rapidly localized to contacts between pairs of brightly expressing fusion partner cells.
    Two types of EFF-1::GFP-enriched contacts could be observed: novel contacts between cells already expressing EFF-1::GFP and preexisting contacts between neighbors in which EFF-1::GFP expression arose after the contact was made. In the first case (novel contacts), two ventral cells expressing EFF-1::GFP migrated toward each other to meet at the ventral midline. Although fluorescence was not plasma-membrane associated during cell migration, a brightly fluorescent junction formed within minutes of initial contact between the two cells. This localization grew in intensity over the next 20 min. In the second case (preexisting contacts), two neighboring dorsal cells began to express EFF-1::GFP. At the interface between these cells, localized EFF-1::GFP became brighter in coincidence with their overall expression of EFF-1::GFP. In both cases (novel and preexisting contacts), the increase in localized fluorescence was approximately linear with time. Furthermore, the contact-localized fluorescence achieved intensities far exceeding the mere sum of brightness of two separate cell membranes, indicating continuous targeted accumulation at the interface. In dorsal hypodermal cells, EFF-1::GFP accumulated along the apical edge of the cell-cell interface, coincident with the intercellular junctions and the known origin of the fusion aperture between cells. Interestingly, the membrane accumulation of EFF-1::GFP persisted, even after the contents of two cells were mixed, indicating that cell fusion was underway or complete. In occasional recordings of ventral cells, the localized EFF-1::GFP appeared to be pushed aside, presumably by the widening cell-fusion aperture, as the cells fused.
  Type: Reporter_gene
  Picture: WBPicture0000009794
  Reference: WBPaper00025022
  Transgene: WBTransgene00028458