title: Gene expression markers for Caenorhabditis elegans vulval cells.
abstract: The analysis of cell fate patterning during the vulval development of Caenorhabditis elegans has relied mostly on the direct observation of cell divisions and cell movements (cell lineage analysis). However, reconstruction of the developing vulva from EM serial sections has suggested seven different cell types (vulA, vulB1, vulB2, vulC, vulD, vulE, and vulF), many of which cannot be distinguished based on such observations. Here we report the vulval expression of seven genes, egl-17, cdh-3, ceh-2, zmp-1, B0034.1, T04B2.6 and F47B8.6 based on gfp, cfp and yfp (green fluorescent protein and color variants) reporter fusions. Each gene expresses in a specific subset of vulval cells, and is therefore useful as a marker for vulval cell fates. Together, expressions of markers distinguish six cell types, and reveal a strict temporal control of gene expression in the developing vulva.
authors.affiliation: HHMI and Division of Biology, Caltech, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
authors.forename: Takao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Sherwood
authors.forename: Gudrun
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Aspöck
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Butler
authors.forename: Bhagwati P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: Martha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kirouac
authors.forename: Minqin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Pei-Yun
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: James M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Kramer
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hope
authors.forename: Thomas R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Bürglin
authors.forename: Paul W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Sternberg
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D005819:Genetic Markers; D014844:Vulva / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers