We first used the gpa-16 promoter (Jansen et al., 1999) to broadly drive the expression of GCaMP3 in pharyngeal muscle. We characterized the expression pattern of this transgene using confocal microscopy and observed bright fluorescence in the pm2 and pm3 muscles and also in the mc1 marginal cells. We also observed occasional dim fluorescence in pm1 (3 of 10 animals).
sem-4 is expressed in all rectal cells in L1s hermaphrodites (i.e., Y, U, B, F, K, and K') and in all rectal cells, including P12.pa, in L3 or older worms.
Pdaf-6GFP was expressed in the amphid sheath glia. Expression was also seen in amphid socket cells, the phasmid sensory organ sheath and socket cells, cells of the excretory system (the excretory canal, duct, pore, and gland cells), the vulval E and F cells, the K, K', F, and U rectal epithelial cells, and less frequently in posterior intestinal cells.
About 20% GABAergic presynaptic terminals (RFP puncta) co-localized with postsynaptic NKB-1 (GFP) localization (103 co-localization with GFP puncta in totally observed 470 RFP puncta (n = 20 animals)). The majority of the postsynaptic Na+/K+ ATPase localization did not overlap with that of GABAergic synapses, suggesting a predominant localization of the Na+/K+ ATPase at cholinergic postsynaptic sites.