Planar Asymmetries in the C. elegans Embryo Emerge by Differential Retention of aPARs at Cell-Cell Contacts

Planar cell polarity in the C. elegans embryo emerges by differential retention of aPARs at cell-cell contacts

10.1101/576777 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Priyanka Dutta ◽

Devang Odedra ◽

Christian Pohl

Keyword(s):

Cell Polarity ◽

Rho Gtpases ◽

Planar Cell Polarity ◽

Apical Cell ◽

Cell Contacts ◽

C Elegans ◽

Medial Cortex ◽

Differential Retention ◽

Cell Intercalation ◽

Cell Cell

AbstractFormation of the anteroposterior and dorsoventral body axis in the Caenorhabditis elegans embryo depends on cortical actomyosin flows and advection of polarity determinants. The role of this patterning mechanism in tissue polarization immediately after formation of cell-cell contacts is not fully understood. Here, we demonstrate that planar cell polarity (PCP) is established in the C. elegans embryo at the time of left-right (l/r) symmetry breaking. At this stage, centripetal cortical flows asymmetrically and differentially advect anterior polarity determinants (aPARs) PAR-3, PAR-6 and PKC-3 from cell-cell contacts to the medial cortex, which results in their unmixing from apical myosin. Advection generally requires GSK-3 and CDC-42, while advection of PAR-6 specifically depends on the RhoGAP PAC-1. Concurrent asymmetric retention of PAR-3, E-cadherin/HMR-1, PAC-1 and opposing retention of the antagonistic Wnt pathway components APC/APR-1 and Frizzled/MOM-5 at apical cell-cell contacts leads to planar asymmetries. The most obvious mark of PCP, asymmetric retention of PAR-3 at posterior cell-cell contacts on the left side of the embryo, is required for proper cytokinetic cell intercalation. Hence, our data uncover how PCP can be established through Wnt signaling as well as dissociation and planar asymmetric retention of aPARs mediated by distinct Rho GTPases and their regulators.

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The roles of an ephrin and a semaphorin in patterning cell–cell contacts in C. elegans sensory organ development

Developmental Biology ◽

10.1016/s0012-1606(02)00129-x ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 256 (2) ◽

pp. 379-388 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Andrew C Hahn ◽

Scott W Emmons

Keyword(s):

Sensory Organ ◽

Organ Development ◽

Cell Contacts ◽

C Elegans ◽

Cell Cell

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The early embryonic development of the satellite organism Pristionchus pacificus: differences and similarities with Caenorhabditis elegans

Nematology ◽

10.1163/156854108783900267 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 301-312 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Gaetan Borgonie ◽

Wim Bert ◽

Wouter Houthoofd ◽

Sandra Vangestel

Keyword(s):

Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽

Embryonic Development ◽

Early Development ◽

Model Organism ◽

Embryonic Cell ◽

Early Embryonic Development ◽

Cell Contacts ◽

Pristionchus Pacificus ◽

C Elegans ◽

Cell Cell

AbstractAs a comparative counterpart for the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans, the nematode Pristionchus pacificus was established as a satellite organism to study developmental processes. However, these studies mainly focused on post-embryonic development and little is known about the early embryonic development. Using 4D microscopy we reconstructed the early embryonic cell lineage of 12 individuals of P. pacificus. By analysing several parameters of early development, including the division sequence, the spatial arrangement of blastomeres, the cell cycle patterns of the AB lineage and cell-cell contacts in different cell stages of the embryo, it was shown that the early embryonic development is nearly identical to C. elegans. Known cell-cell contacts necessary for induction of blastomere fates in C. elegans are also present in P. pacificus. Thus, the spatio-temporal conditions that would allow possible homologous inductions are present. However, at least one model for blastomere specification seems not to apply to P. pacificus since the third division in the AB lineage differs from that of C. elegans. Furthermore, naturally occurring variability of early development was demonstrated, which is clearly permitted since there seems to be no influence on further development into an adult worm.

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glp-1 and inductions establishing embryonic axes in C. elegans

Development ◽

10.1242/dev.120.7.2051 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 120 (7) ◽

pp. 2051-2064 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

H. Hutter ◽

R. Schnabel

Keyword(s):

Major Part ◽

Early Embryo ◽

Embryonic Axes ◽

Cell Contacts ◽

Cell Lineages ◽

C Elegans ◽

Cell Embryo ◽

Almost All ◽

Anterior Posterior ◽

Cell Cell

Two successive inductions specify blastomere identities, that is complex cell lineages and not specific tissues, in a major part of the early C. elegans embryo. The first induction acts along the anterior-posterior axis of the embryo and the second along the left-right axis. During the first induction a specific lineage program is induced in the posterior of the two AB blastomeres present in the four cell embryo. During the second induction, almost all of the left-right differences of the embryo are specified by interactions between a single signalling blastomere, MS, and the AB blastomeres that surround it. In both cases the inductions break the equivalence of pairs of blastomeres. The inductions correlate with the cell-cell contacts to the inducing blastomeres. The stereotype cleavage patterns of the early embryo results in invariant cell-cell contacts that guarantee the specificity of the inductions. Both inductions are affected in embryos mutant for glp-1 suggesting that in both cases glp-1 is involved in the reception of the signal.

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