One of the methods to characterize the ts embryonic lethals (see previous abstract) is to follow the early cleavages up to the 4 E cell stage, i.e. the onset of gastrulation. So far, 310 embryos from each of 65 mutants have been analyzed. The following 11 mutants were selected as potentially interesting. All of them are maternal effect mutants. Two mutants show specific lineage defects. In T39 embryos P1 cleaves symmetrically and 15 minutes late. The P-granules which are segregated normally into P1 during the first cleavage are distributed randomly into the two P1-daughters during the symmetrical cleavage. This indicates that P1 has lost its identity. Staining with monoclonal antibodies specific for MS and E cell descendants suggests that P1 has acquired the fate of EMS. Three further alleles were isolated by noncomplementation screening. Two of these are ts and affect the cleavages of P2 and P3, respectively. In these mutants, P2 or P3 cleave symmetrically and fail to segregate the P-granules. In all alleles, cleavages in the AB lineage are also somewhat slowed down. The terminal phenotypes of all alleles are embryos arrested before morphogenesis. The new nonconditional allele has not been characterized yet. F80 is a dominant mutant which causes MS and E or one of their daughters each to exchange their fates. Three F80- revertants were isolated which are candidates for recessive alleles Of the dominant mutation and one has been characterized further. In this mutant the cleavage pattern of E is similar to that of MS. In addition, the E cell descendants show no gut differentiation judged by the lack of the appearance of rhabditin granules. F249 often has a symmetric first cleavage. Later on in development the different lineages divide more and more synchronously. The terminal differentiation of most cell types including the gut cells is not affected. The mutants F248 and F765 show symmetric cleavages of P1 and P2 In the mutant F384 the pronuclei remain in the posterior part of the egg and do not rotate which results in an aberrant first cleavage similar to that of
zyg-9 embryos. In contrast to
zyg-9, the embryo develops many differentiated cells. Some of the embryos have an inverted anterior-posterior polarity. Two mutants show altered cleavage directions of P1 (F591) or of EMS and C (F350), respectively. The new cleavages occur in a direction orthogonal to that of the corresponding wild type cells. Three mutations F346, F618 and F598 (the latter two are allelic) cause a delay of the cleavages of the P cells and their daughters by a factor of about 1.5. The AB cleavage rate is not affected. In the mutant F598, P granules are not segregated properly in the late P lineage.