Specification and development of the germline in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Maternal-effect sterile (mes) genes encode maternal components that are required for establishment and development of the germline. Five such genes have been identified in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Mutations in one of the genes result in defects in the asymmetric division and cytoplasmic partitioning that generate the primordial germ cell P4 at the 16-24-cell stage of embryogenesis. As a result of these defects, the P4 cell is transformed into a muscle progenitor and mutant embryos develop into sterile adults with extra body muscles. Mutations in the other four mes genes do not affect formation of the germline during embryogenesis, but result in drastically reduced proliferation of the germline during post-embryonic stages and in an absence of gametes in adults. The failure to form gametes may reflect a defect in germline specification or may be a consequence of reduced germline proliferation. We are currently testing these two possibilities. In addition to the mes gene products, wild-type function of the zygotic gene glp-4 is required for normal post-embryonic proliferation of the germline. Germ cells in glp-4 mutant worms are arrested in prophase of the mitotic cell cycle and are unable to enter meiosis and form gametes. Thus, following establishment of the germ lineage in the early embryo, both maternal and zygotic gene products work in concert to promote the extensive proliferation of the germline and to enable germ cells to generate functional gametes.