Expr13464
ETR-1 is expressed in both the germline and the somatic gonadal tissue of the hermaphrodite gonad. A medial optical section through the hermaphrodite gonad shows that ETR-1 exhibits a diffuse, cytoplasmic staining throughout the entire hermaphrodite gonad. We also observed cytoplasmic expression of ETR-1 within both the female and male gametes (egg and sperm, respectively). A superficial optical section of the proximal hermaphrodite gonad shows that ETR-1 is localized specifically to the gonadal sheath cell myofilaments. This result was confirmed by colocalization with an antibody against myosin heavy chain A (MHCA) (Hubbard and Greenstein, 2000; Rose et al., 1997). Further confirmation of ETR-1 being expressed in the somatic gonadal cells emerges when imaging the surface of the distal gonad. ETR-1 exhibits a honeycomb pattern in the distal germ line that is consistent with the pattern observed by Hall et al. (1999) in their description of the individual somatic gonadal sheath cells via TEM and immunofluorescence studies (Hall et al., 1999). Analysis of embryos indicates early embryonic expression of ETR-1 that persists through the comma stage of embryonic development. In early embryos (1- to 16-cell stage), ETR-1 is diffusely cytoplasmic. In older embryos (>32-cell), while there still remains some diffuse cytoplasmic ETR-1 staining, a majority of the ETR-1 is now nuclear.