msp-3 mRNAs are highly accumulated in the late pachytene and early spermatocytes, and their expression was dramatically reduced in spermatid and mature sperm.
A reporter tbx-35::GFP transcriptional fusion shows GFP fluorescence in the two daughters of MS (MSa and MSp) and their descendants for several divisions.
UBXN-1, UBXN-2 and UBXN-3 were relatively strongly expressed in proximal gonads where MSP is localized, although UBXN-1, UBXN-2 and UBXN- 3 were ubiquitously localized in the gonads. More precisely, UBXN-1, UBXN-2 and UBXN-3 primarily localized at the periphery of spermatocyte nuclei, but not in mature sperm.
Generalised expression in early embryos which becomes more restricted as development progresses. The pattern is first observed at 14 cells in the AB lineage, Ea/Ep and MSa/MSp. The germline and C/D lineages never stain and by 210 minutes the expression becomes restricted to what appears to be the AB lineage, particularly regions of the hypodermal cells. The pattern has not been observed after 430 minutes.
Although VAB-1 GFP fluorescence is difficult to detect in all expressing cell types in intact hermaphrodites, it is detectable in dissected gonads using sensitive optical techniques. VAB-1 GFP is observed in oocytes and sheath cells of the proximal gonad arm in transgenics, but not in controls. GFP fluorescence appeared enriched between oocytes, and in the thin sheath cells surrounding them, in a pattern similar to that observed in wild-type gonads incubated with MSP-FITC.
The nuclear GFP::LIT-1, despite a low level, was detected in a dynamic pattern both temporally and spatially. GFP::LIT-1 was consistently enriched in the interphase nuclei of only a subset of early blastomeres. Comparison with the corresponding DIC images revealed that, at the eight-cell stage, nuclear GFP::LIT-1 was enriched in the interphase E blastomere but not in the MS blastomere. At the 12-cell stage, interphase nuclear GFP::LIT-1 was enriched in four of the great granddaughters of the AB blastomere (ABarp, ABalp, ABprp, and ABplp, all posterior daughters of A-P divisions) but not their anterior sister cells. Nuclear enrichment was also observed at the 14-cell stage in the posterior daughters of MS and E, MSp and Ep, respectively, but not their anterior daughters. After the 14-cell stage, the GFP signal was too low to continue evaluating.