The anti-LIN-29 antisera recognized a nuclear antigen in lateral hypodermal seam cells in wild-type C. elegans. The anti-LIN-29 antibodies revealed a differential pattern of
lin-29 protein accumulation during development. LIN-29 was not detected in hermaphrodite hypodermal nuclei prior to the L4 stage. Although it is possible that LIN-29 is distributed diffusely throughout the hypodermal cytoplasm during the L3 and younger stages, there are no difference detected in hypodermal cell staining when these animals were incubated with secondary antibody alone, relative to animals incubated with both primary and secondary antibodies. The earliest LIN-29 accumulation in lateral seam cell nuclei was shortly after their final division, during the L3- to L4-molt. LIN-29 accumulated in these hypodermal nuclei during the L4 stage, and remained detectable in the adult animal. At approximately the same time, LIN-29 was detected in the hypodermal nuclei of the head (
hyp1-
hyp6), tail (
hyp8-
hyp12), and the large hypodermal syncytium covering most of the animal (
hyp7). The accumulation of LIN-29 in
hyp7 was typically observed following accumulation in the seam, and the signal was usually less intense. In summary, LIN-29 accumulates stage-specifically, beginning during the L4 stage and persisting into the adult stage, in all hypodermal cell nuclei of the worm. LIN-29 was also detectable in late stage gravid adults, at a time when
lin-29 mRNAs are greatly reduced in abundance.