Figure 1. Expression Pattern of C. elegans
drp-1. (A) The
drp-1 gene is expressed in neurons, as shown by X-gal staining of a worm containing a
drp-1::NLS::β-galactosidase construct. In this construct, the
drp-1 gene promoter was fused in frame with a nuclear localization signal and beta-galactosidase coding sequences. The lines point to two of the ventral nerve cord cells. This worm also shows strong staining in the head (left), which reflects high levels of expression around the nerve ring, and strong staining in the preanal ganglion (right).(B) The
drp-1 gene is expressed in muscle cells. The construct is the same as in (A), but this animal shows a different staining pattern due to mosaicism of the extrachromosomal array. The lines point to two of the body wall muscle cells. Their identities are apparent in other animals, because leakage of X-gal into the cytoplasm reveals the characteristic shapes of body wall muscles. In addition, this animal shows expression in pharyngeal muscles (head region), in vulval muscles (middle region), and anal muscles (tail region).(C) The
drp-1 gene is expressed in intestinal cells. The lines point to two of the intestinal cells. The intestines have pairs of cells that enclose the intestinal lumen. The nuclei are larger than the nuclei of other somatic cells because they are polyploid.