title: Mapping the distribution of differentiation potential for intestine, muscle, and hypodermis during early development in Caenorhabditis elegans.
abstract: We have analyzed the differentiation potential of cells in early embryos of Caenorhabditis elegans by assessing the production of markers for intestinal, muscle, and hypodermal cell differentiation in cleavage-arrested blastomeres. Our results show that differentiation potential does not always segregate during cleavage in a linear fashion, i.e., a blastomere can express a differentiation potential that is absent in its parent blastomere and vice versa. Furthermore, the expression of a particular differentiation program by certain cleavage-arrested blastomeres is an exclusive event in that each cell will express only one program of differentiation, even though it may have the potential to express several.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001757:Blastomeres / Q000032:analysis / Q000166:cytology*; D002107:Caenorhabditis / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002455:Cell Division; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D007422:Intestines / Q000032:analysis / Q000166:cytology; D009024:Morphogenesis; D009132:Muscles / Q000032:analysis / Q000166:cytology; D012867:Skin / Q000032:analysis / Q000166:cytology; D014335:Tropomyosin / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D014335:Tropomyosin