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Germ plasm in Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila and Xenopus
Author(s) -
Ikenishi Kohji
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
development, growth and differentiation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.864
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1440-169X
pISSN - 0012-1592
DOI - 10.1046/j.1440-169x.1998.t01-4-00001.x
Subject(s) - germ plasm , germline , germ line development , biology , caenorhabditis elegans , xenopus , microbiology and biotechnology , germ cell , somatic cell , genetics , gastrulation , embryo , gene , embryogenesis
Special cytoplasm, called germ plasm, that is essential for the differentiation of germ cells is localized in a particular region of Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila and Xenopus eggs. The mode of founder cell formation of germline, the origin and behavior of the germline granules, and the molecules localized in germline cells are compared in these organisms. The common characteristics of the organisms are mainly as follows. First, the founder cells of germline are established before the intiation of gastrulation. Second, the germline granules or their derivatives are always present in germline cells or germ cells throughout the life cycle in embryos, larvae, and adults. Lastly, among the proteins localized in the germ plasm, only Vasa protein or its homolog is detected in the germline cells or germ cells throughout the life cycle. As the protein of vasa homolog has been reported to be also localized in the germline‐specific structure or nuage in some of the organisms without the germ plasm, the possibility that the mechanism for differentiation of primordial germ cells is basically common in all organisms with or without the germ plasm is discussed.