A genetic screen for temperature-sensitive morphogenesis-defective Caenorhabditis elegans mutants.

Morphogenesis involves coordinated cell migrations and cell shape changes that generate tissues and organs, and organize the body plan. Cell adhesion and the cytoskeleton are important for executing morphogenesis, but their regulation remains poorly understood. As genes required for embryonic morphogenesis may have earlier roles in development, temperature-sensitive embryonic-lethal mutations are useful tools for investigating this process.

Interactions between the WEE-1.3 kinase and the PAM-1 aminopeptidase in oocyte maturation and the early C. elegans embryo.

Puromycin-sensitive aminopeptidases are found across phyla and are known to regulate the cell-cycle and play a protective role in neurodegenerative disease. PAM-1 is a puromycin-sensitive aminopeptidase important for meiotic exit and polarity establishment in the one-cell Caenorhabditis elegans embryo. Despite conservation of this aminopeptidase, little is known about its targets during development.

High-Throughput Cloning of Temperature-Sensitive Caenorhabditis elegans Mutants with Adult Syncytial Germline Membrane Architecture Defects.

The adult Caenorhabditis elegans hermaphrodite gonad consists of two mirror-symmetric U-shaped arms, with germline nuclei located peripherally in the distal regions of each arm. The nuclei are housed within membrane cubicles that are open to the center, forming a syncytium with a shared cytoplasmic core called the rachis. As the distal germline nuclei progress through meiotic prophase, they move proximally and eventually cellularize as their compartments grow in size.