WormMine: AnatomyTerm WBbt:0007809

• Definition: cell that has the potential to form structural part of a vulva.
• Name: vulval precursor cell
• Primary Identifier: WBbt:0007809
• Synonym: VPC

6 Children

Definition	Name	Synonym	Primary Identifier
	P6.p hermaphrodite		WBbt:0008125
descendent cell of post-embryonic blast cell P5, posterior, in hermaphrodite.	P5.p hermaphrodite		WBbt:0008121
descendent cell of post-embryonic blast cell P4, posterior, in hermaphrodite.	P4.p hermaphrodite		WBbt:0008117
descendent cell of post-embryonic blast cell P3, posterior in hermaphrodite.	P3.p hermaphrodite		WBbt:0008112
	P8.p hermaphrodite		WBbt:0008133
	P7.p hermaphrodite		WBbt:0008129

0 Expression Clusters

95 Expression Patterns

• Primary Identifier: Expr4327
• Remark: No obvious difference in expression was observed between this particular mir-84::gfp fusion gene and one in which 8.1 kb of sequence upstream of mir-84 was fused to yellow fluorescent protein, kindly provided by A. Yoo and I. Greenwald.
• Pattern: Transgenic mgEx674[mir-84::gfp] animals expressed GFP in the lateral hypodermal seam cells and other cells. The mir-84::gfp reporter was expressed in seam cells during early larval stages in some transgenic animals, although expression was more prevalent in L3-stage and older animals.

• Primary Identifier: Expr4590
• Pattern: Promoter activity with distinct GFP expression in lateral hypodermal seam cells and in the non-seam cell hypodermis was observed throughout development. Additionally, expression was noted in many neurons, including the ventral nerve cord (VNC) and the hermaphrodite specific neuron (HSN). GFP was also observed in various somatic gonad tissues including the anchor cell in larval stages and adult vulval muscle cells, the distal tip cells, a subset of the vulval precursor cells, uterine cells, and spermatheca.

• Primary Identifier: Expr12782
• Pattern: Ppa-lin-17 /Fz expression was found in the posterior body region surrounding the rectal area in all larval stages. Coexpression of Ppa-lin-17 /Fz::RFP with Ppa-egl-20 /Wnt::GFP indicates that the two genes have an overlapping expression pattern during larval development that is, however, not completely identical. Low level Ppa-lin-17 /Fz::RFP expression is also seen in more anterior regions including the VPCs during the J3 larval stage. All described expression patterns were highly reproducible and were observed in several independent transgenic lines.

• Primary Identifier: Expr14760
• Pattern: We observed cytosolic tagged GCK-2 throughout vulval development (VPCs). We observed the expression of GCK-2 in all tissues, including the germline and embryos in the adult hermaphrodite.

• Primary Identifier: Expr9233
• Remark: After EGF induction, GFP was restricted to P5.p, P6.p and P7.p, cells receiving the EGF signal.
• Pattern: Transgenic embryos harboring a ral-1 promoter-driven gfp fusion construct showed broad embryonic GFP expression. Post-embryonically, GFP was observed in excretory canals, a small number of neurons, and was expressed dynamically in vulval lineages. Prior to EGF induction, GFP was expressed in all VPCs, but at the time of induction, GFP was restricted to P5.p, P6.p and P7.p, cells receiving the EGF signal. Soon thereafter expression was extinguished in the presumptive 1 cell (P6.p), persisted strongly in presumptive 2s (P5.p and P7.p), and was faintly restored in presumptive 3s. Further dynamic expression changes were seen in later vulval development, after fate specification.

• Primary Identifier: Expr14761
• Pattern: We observed tagged RAL-1 throughout vulval development (VPCs). Tagged RAL-1 expression in the animal was ubiquitous, including vulva and germline, and localized primarily to plasma membrane and adherens junctions.

• Primary Identifier: Expr11577
• Remark: Temporal description
• Pattern: CDT-2::GFP is not detected in P cells at larval stage L1, but is expressed early in all Vulval Precursor Cells prior to their first division. The frequency of expression is lowest in P3.p cells, and highest in P6.p. After first division, the cells that adopted the vulval fate all express CDT-2::GFP, but the non-vulval cells generally do not. However, sometimes low expression can be observed in the descendants of P3.p, P4.p and P8.p. Interestingly, after second division (four-cell stage) CDT-2::GFP expression disappears from two secondary cells (P5.ppp and P7.paa); these are the only vulval cells that will not undergo a third cell division. Later, at L4 stage no expression is detected. CDT-2:GFP expression was also observed in the cytoplasm during the first mitotic division of P6.p, which quickly relocalised to the nuclei as the nuclear envelope reforms. The early CDT-2 pattern of expression is consistent with a role during vulval fate adoption, and its down regulation in cells that cease cell division is consistent with a role in DNA replication.
• Subcellular Localization: The localisation of CDT-2 fused to GFP is predominantly nuclear in interphase and cytoplasmic during mitosis, which seems contrary with a function in endocytosis. However, the authors cannot exclude that a proportion of CDT-2::GFP below the limit of detection is cytoplasmic during interphase.

• Primary Identifier: Expr11858
• Subcellular Localization: CDT-2::GFP was expressed and localized to the nucleus of the mitotic VPCs.

• Primary Identifier: Expr12798
• Pattern: tat-3 reporter signal first appears in embryos in the developing pharynx. In the fully formed alimentary system, very strong GFP fluorescence is observed in the muscle, marginal and buccal epithelial cells of the pharynx, the pharyngeal-intestinal valve and, with lesser intensity, the rectal epithelial cells. Seam cells display very strong fluorescence as soon as this lineage becomes established during embryonic development. In adults, moderate to weak fluorescence seems to arise from the XXX cells, some unidentified cells in the head and tail regions and the hypodermis. In the reproductive system, tat-3 reporter expression begins in the distal tip cells (DTC) in L1 and in the anchor cell (AC) in early L3. GFP signal is later visible in the dividing progeny of the vulval precursor cells (VPCs). In late L4, the anchor cell fuses with the uterine seam cell (utse), which does not express the reporter. The vulval cells continue exhibiting moderate fluorescence into the adulthood.

• Primary Identifier: Expr15444
• Pattern: Similar to UNC-11 antibody staining, UNC-11::GFP expression appeared pan-neuronal and was also observed within coelomocytes. Not described by Nonet el al 1999, we observed GFP puncta in apical epithelial tissue just below the cuticle surface in both the head and in the body, an accumulation of UNC-11::GFP at the plasma membrane in the seam cells and weak staining in the vulval precursor cells (VPCs) at the interface between the VPCs and the vulval lumen. Finally, Nonet et al. described diffuse staining within the intestine whereas we did not observe detectable levels of intestinal expression, punctate or otherwise.

• Primary Identifier: Expr9722
• Pattern: Expression becomes detectable around the comma stage of embryogenesis and persists through adulthood. Expression in vulval precursor cells is strong and can first be seen in L3. PQN-47::GFP is expressed in seam cells, peaking at L2 and ceasing after the seam cells differentiate in late L4, concurrent with the appearance of alae. The intestine shows variably undetectable to low pqn-47 expression (always less than in the neurons) and gets dimmer as development progresses, especially after L3. The two bulbs of the pharynx, specifically pharyngeal muscle cells pm3-8 (not pm6), are variably bright. Overall expression levels are lower in adults than younger animals, with only some expression in head and tail neurons remaining. Head and nerve ring neurons, pharyngeal cells, ventral nerve cord cells, vulval precursor cells, seam (though interestingly not hyp7), as well as cells in the tail show the strongest pqn-47 expression. Muscle, intestine, the distal tip cells of the gonad, the spermatheca, and a large neuron that may be CAN that is essential for survival but of unknown function near the vulva (also bathed in pseudocoelom fluid, and next to the seam and canal cells), as well as a subset of the ciliated neurons of the head (amphid neurons ASI, ADL, ASK, or AWB) and tail including phasmid cilia PHA and PHB, also express pqn-47. We could not detect expression in the pharyngeal glands as reported for a different promoter pqn-47 fusion construct made as part of a high-throughput analysis of gene expression, although other tissues did show similar patterns. Promoter and translational reporters show pqn-47 expression in numerous somatic cells, including cells uniquely poised to mediate or transmit signal(s) involved in the regulation of molting, some of which have been implicated in molting. For example, many cells expressing PQN-47 have significant exposure to the pseudocoelom, and as such are candidates to transmit or detect endocrine signals; the H-shaped excretory cell and its ducts, which form extensive gap junctions with the hypodermis and lie against the pseudocoelom along the entire body of the worm (Nelson and Riddle, 1984), the head mesodermal cell (hmc) lies in the pseudocoelom up against the (excretory) gland cell and forms gap junctions with them and muscle, and the VPI cells at the juncture of the pharynx and intestine are bathed by the pseudocoelom, as well as the intestine itself.

• Primary Identifier: Expr9253
• Remark: The general distribution pattern of Venus::UNC-6 in the wild-type genetic background was similar to that of 3xHA-tagged UNC-6, reported previously (Wadsworth et al. 1996), except for an additional observation of Venus::UNC-6 expression in P6.p descendants, ventral muscle, dorsal muscle in the tail, and in the ray of the male tail. These differences were probably due to the different fixation methods used.
• Pattern: Venus::UNC-6 was mainly detected in ventral cells, including epidermoblasts, glia, neurons, muscle cells, and vulval precursor cells. Venus::UNC-6 was detected in dorsal muscle cells in the tail. In male worms, Venus::UNC-6 was expressed in the ray.

• Primary Identifier: Expr9793
• Pattern: GFP expression was observed in the M lineage from L1, and continued through development of the sex muscles. GFP was also observed in the vulval precursor cells and and the developing vulva from L3 to adulthood.

• Primary Identifier: Expr3186
• Pattern: The onset of hst-2 expression coincides with the start of morphogenesis in mid-embryonic (comma) stages where hst-2::GFP is first detected in developing pharyngeal cells. hst-2::GFP expression in the pharynx persists through larval development and remains in adults. In larvae, hst-2 is also expressed in the hypodermis (epidermis) and in neurons in both the dorsal and ventral nerve cords. In adults, hst-2::GFP is widely expressed in the pharynx, muscle and in several neurons in the nerve cords. During the development of the hermaphrodite vulva, hst-2::GFP is expressed in the vulval precursor cells. At larval stage L3, hst-2::GFP is seen in the four descendants of the P6.p vulval precursor cell. The expression of hst-2::GFP in vulval hypodermis persists through larval stage L4 to adults. During the hermaphrodite gonad morphogenesis, the gonad leader cells or DTCs also express hst-2::GFP.

• Primary Identifier: Expr11177
• Pattern: The expression dynamics of mom-2/Wnt are quite different throughout the worm life span. Expression of mom-2/Wnt increases 3 fold during the first 5 days of adulthood and then decreases 4 fold by day 8 of adulthood, eventually showing little or no expression in old worms. Expression localization of mom-2 differs slightly between aging and development. During development, mom-2 is expressed throughout the whole body of the worm, in muscles, hypodermal and intestinal cells, vulva precursor cells, as well as in ventral cord motor neurons (Gleason et al. 2006). In young (day1 and 2) and middle-aged (day 5) adults, mom-2/Wnt expression was observed only in posterior intestinal and intestinal rectal valve cells. The authors were not able to detect any mom-2 expression in any other tissues.

• Primary Identifier: Expr10771
• Pattern: Strong UNC-62:GFP expression was observed in a variety of tissues in the hermaphrodite, including the vulval precursor cells, the ventral cord motorneurons and other neurons, the hypodermis, and the intestine. Expression in neurons and hypodermis is visible throughout development and into adulthood; expression in vulval precursor cells is only seen when that lineage emerges in the L3 and L4 stages (data not shown). For the intestine, strong expression was observed beginning in the L3 stage and continuing into adulthood.

• Primary Identifier: Expr10773
• Pattern: UNC-62(7b) was expressed in neurons, the ventral nerve cord, vulval precursor cells, and hypodermis beginning in embryos and continuing through adulthood.

• Primary Identifier: Expr3038
• Pattern: For din-1L, 8 kb of the din-1 upstream region was placed before gfp followed by din-1LB cDNA. Extrachromosomal arrays dhEx191 and dhEx194 were expressed in the nuclei of most cells from embryo to adult, as well as in dauer larvae. din-1L expressed more strongly in embryo and L1 larvae than din-1S, consistent with an earlier role. din-1S::gfp localized to the nuclei of most cell types. Detected in hypodermis, seam, intestine, and somatic gonad including the distal tip cells, din-1S was also expressed in neurons, vulval precursors, body wall muscle, and pharynx, all tissues with heterochronic phenotypes or remodeled during dauer. Expression was first detected in a few nuclei by the comma stage of embryogenesis. By hatch, din-1S was widely expressed, albeit weakly. Overall expression in most tissues was detected at various levels into adult and in dauer larvae. Interestingly, in late L1 and L2 larvae din-1S was often (75%, n = 16) highly expressed in the XXX cells, specialized neuroendocrine cells proposed to be a site of synthesis for the daf-9-produced hormone.
• Subcellular Localization: Expressed in nuclei.

• Primary Identifier: Expr15957
• Pattern: mNG::LIN-7, LIN-2::mK2 and mNG::LIN-10 were found to bebroadly expressed in the worm. In L3 larvae, they were prominentlyexpressed in VPCs and neurons, whereas only LIN-7 and LIN-10 weredetectable in the somatic gonad primordium. In the VPCs,endogenous mNG::LIN-7 was strongly cytosolic, frequently found atpunctae, and occasionally localized to basolateral membranes. We found that LET-23::mK2 and mNG::LIN-7 overlapped at the basolateral plasma membrane in L3 larvae (from P6.p to P6.pxx). This overlap was more apparent in the differentiated vulval cells (L4).

• Primary Identifier: Expr15958
• Pattern: mNG::LIN-7, LIN-2::mK2 and mNG::LIN-10 were found to bebroadly expressed in the worm. In L3 larvae, they were prominentlyexpressed in VPCs and neurons, whereas only LIN-7 and LIN-10 weredetectable in the somatic gonad primordium. In the VPCs,endogenous mNG::LIN-7 was strongly cytosolic, frequently found atpunctae, and occasionally localized to basolateral membranes.

• Primary Identifier: Expr15959
• Pattern: mNG::LIN-7, LIN-2::mK2 and mNG::LIN-10 were found to bebroadly expressed in the worm. In L3 larvae, they were prominentlyexpressed in VPCs and neurons, whereas only LIN-7 and LIN-10 weredetectable in the somatic gonad primordium. In the VPCs,endogenous mNG::LIN-7 was strongly cytosolic, frequently found atpunctae, and occasionally localized to basolateral membranes.
• Subcellular Localization: Endogenous LIN-2::mK2 was also found to have a strong cytosolic signal and to localize to cytoplasmic punctae, but did not have a distinct membrane localization pattern.

• Primary Identifier: Expr12021
• Pattern: During the L1 and L2 stages, Plet-7::gfppest expression is detected primarily in the intestine, the pharynx, and some neurons. Beginning in the L3, Plet-7::gfppest expression is detected in seam and vulva precursor cells, as well as the body wall muscle, in addition to the tissues observed in L1/L2 stage animals. Plet-7::gfppest is expressed strongly in the vulva and seam during the L4.

• Primary Identifier: Expr16023
• Remark: TSP-14B isoform expression.
• Pattern: We found that TSP-14A and TSP-14B exhibit distinct expression and localization patterns. First, only TSP-14A, but not TSP-14B, is detectable in the germline and sperm cells, as well as at the tip of the anterior sensory cilia, while TSP-14B is detectable in the pharynx. Both TSP-14A and TSP-14B are found in hypodermal cellsand the developing vulva. However, the two isoforms exhibit different subcellular localization patterns. In hypodermal cells, TSP-14A is primarily localized in intracellular vesicles, while TSP-14B is mainly localized on the cell surface. In the developing vulva, TSP-14A is localized on the apical side, while TSP-14B is localized on the basolateral membrane. Similar localization patterns hold true in the pharynx.

• Primary Identifier: Expr12030
• Pattern: Both YFP::LNKN-1 and LNKN-1::YFP are similarly localized to the plasma membrane of many cells. LNKN-1 begins to be expressed in all somatic gonadal cells of the male, including the LC, the vas deferens precursor cells, and seminal vesicle precursor cells, starting in the early L3 stage and continuing through adulthood. It is also expressed in all somatic gonadal cells of the hermaphrodite, including the distal tip cells, anchor cell, uterine precursor cells, and spermatheca precursor cells. Other expression occurs in pharynx, pharyngeal-intestinal valve, intestine, excretory cell and canal, seam cells, a specialized subset of hypodermal cells, the vulval precursor cells of the hermaphrodite, and hook precursor cells in the male. YFP-tagged LNKN-1 is localized to the plasma membrane, exhibiting stronger localization to the sides of cell-cell contact in tissues such as the intestine, seam, and gonad.

• Primary Identifier: Expr8660
• Remark: Picture: Fig 1B to 1F.
• Pattern: WTS-1::GFP was widely expressed in epithelial and muscular tissues in all developmental stages examined, from embryo to adult.
• Subcellular Localization: In the pharynx, WTS-1::GFP localized to the membrane during the epithelization stage. In the intestine, WTS-1::GFP showed a similar pattern to that of HMR-1. WTS-1::GFP broadly colocalized with PAR-3 and PKC-3. WTS-1::GFP additionally showed localization lateral to PKC-3 and localization apical to PAR-3 suggesting that WTS-1::GFP localizes to the subapical regions in the intestine. WTS-1::GFP was present in the cytoplasm and, interestingly, also localized to the membrane in epithelial tissues (the vulva, the spermatheca, the intestine, the hypodermis, the excretory canal and the pharynx). Although WTS-1::GFP did not localize to the membrane in early embryos, it localized to the membrane in late embryos.

• Primary Identifier: Expr13244
• Pattern: Pmemo-1::GFP is expressed in some neurons in the head of an L4 wild-type worm, e.g., amphid neurons, including ASJ, and also non-neuronal tissues, such as the pharynx (the procorpus, the anterior bulb, the isthmus and the terminal bulb). In young, adult wild-type worms, Pmemo-1::GFP is expressed in tail neurons, the posterior end of the intestine and the rectal area. Strong Pmemo-1::GFP expression was detected in tail neurons and weaker expression in the posterior end of the intestine and the rectal area. Pmemo-1::GFP is expressed in the adult vulva. Pmemo-1::GFP is expressed in the spermatheca of wild-type adults. Pmemo-1::GFP is expressed during vulva development at the L4 stage. In an early L4, Pmemo-1::GFP::GFP is expressed weakly around the vulva and expressed strongly in the anchor cell and the vulval precursor cells. There is also strong expression in the ventral cord neurons. Pmemo-1::GFP is expressed in the distal tip cells.

• Primary Identifier: Expr9661
• Pattern: We observed during the L1 stage mab-10 transcripts in the anterior and posterior bulbs of the pharynx as well as a small number of transcripts throughout the hypoderm. L2-stage animals showed increased expression of mab-10 mRNA in hyp7 and the rectal epithelium in addition to the nerve ring and the ventral nerve cord, where several cells contained one or two transcripts. During the early L3 stage, mab-10 was weakly expressed in hyp7 but showed high expression in the vulval and uterine precursor cells. mab-10 mRNA was also present within the distal tip cells and a pair of bilaterally symmetric cells that we believe to be the CAN neurons, based on their position and neuronal nuclear morphology. By the late L3 stage, mab-10 expression was almost absent from hyp7 but was high in the seam cells, distal tip cells and developing vulva. mab-10 transcript was also detected in the gonadal sheath cells. During the L4 stage, mab-10 transcripts dramatically increased in abundance throughout the pharynx, hypoderm and somatic gonad, including the distal tip cells.

• Primary Identifier: Expr13826
• Pattern: The zygotic div-1p::GFP was first detected at about the 80-cell stage in embryos and remained strongly expressed in dividing cells throughout the rest of embryogenesis. div-1p::GFP was also highly expressed in the pharynx and DTCs in early larval stages, in vulva precursor cells in L3, and in vulva precursor cells in L4 . Most strikingly, div-1p::GFP was strongly expressed in the somatic gonadal tissues, including gonadal sheath cells, spermatheca, and the vulva.

• Primary Identifier: Expr2579
• Pattern: SCC-1/COH-2 was expressed in germ cells throughout the development, including the adult stage. SCC-1/COH-2 was detected in virtually all mitotic germ nuclei. Similarly to somatic cells in embryos, SCC-1/COH-2 was dispersed in the cytoplasm at mitotic prometaphase and was absent from the condensed anaphase chromosomes in germ cells. In female germ cells that entered meiotic prophase in adult hermaphrodites, SCC-1/COH-2 was observed uniformly in the nuclei. It was unclear whether SCC-1/COH-2 localized to the condensed meiotic chromosomes, because of the strong SCC-1/COH-2 signal emitted from the nucleoplasm. SCC-1/COH-2 was detected also in male germ cells at mitosis and meiosis, but it was not detectable in mature sperm. SCC-1/COH-2 was strongly expressed in virtually all cells in early embryos, but its expression was gradually weakened, and the signal could hardly be detected in late embryos, in which cell division was ceased almost completely. Strong nuclear signals of SCC-1/COH-2 reappeared in larvae, though they were limited to a subset of cells. SCC-1/COH-2 was detectable only in cells that were going to divide. For example, in an L1 larva, intense SCC-1/COH-2 signals were detected in the 14 hypodermal V lineage cells, which divide synchronously. The SCC-1/COH-2 signal was dispersed and not detectable on condensed chromosomes, as observed in embryos of an intermediate stage. In a slightly older L1 larva, expression of SCC-1/COH-2 was seen in 22 P lineage cells to constitute the ventral nerve cord and in four Q lineage cells to produce posterior neuronal cells, all of which divide at the same time. In this L1 larva, no signal was detected in the V lineage cells, suggesting that the SCC-1/COH-2 protein is present only for a short time in the cell cycle, and likely to be degraded quickly after cell division. Larvae of later stages also expressed SCC-1/COH-2 in dividing cells: in an L3 larva, SCC-1/COH-2 was detected in four M lineage cells to produce the uterine and vulval muscle cells and in 10 P lineage vulval precursor cells, which divide concurrently. The embryos were stained with both anti-SCC-1/COH-2 antibodies and an antibody against a component of the nuclear pore complexes. The SCC-1/COH-2 signal was evenly distributed within the nuclear envelope except for the chromosomal region, suggesting that SCC-1/COH-2 molecules dissociated from the chromosomes at metaphase were trapped by the nuclear envelope. Consistently with this interpretation, the SCC-1/COH-2 staining around the metaphase plate was no longer seen at later stages of embryogenesis involving >30 cells, where nuclear envelope is known to break down before metaphase. SCC-1/COH-2 was dispersed into the whole cytoplasm of metaphase cells at these stages.
• Subcellular Localization: SCC-1/COH-2 seemed to localize to the chromosomes in a cell cycle-dependent manner. In interphase, SCC-1/COH-2 was seen throughout the nucleus, overlapping largely with DNA. At mitotic prophase, SCC-1/COH-2 started to separate from condensing chromosomes, and it was not detected on the chromosomes at prometaphase and metaphase. At metaphase, the SCC-1/COH-2 signal seemed as if surrounding the metaphase plate, although it was possible that a small amount of SCC-1/COH-2 was remaining on the metaphase chromosomes but escaped detection, because cohesin is reported to become detectable on metaphase chromosomes only after detergent extraction of soluble background in other metazoans. The SCC-1/COH-2 signal was then dispersed in the cytoplasm at anaphase. At telophase, the SCC-1/COH-2 protein began to reaccumulate on the chromosomes.

• Primary Identifier: Expr13455
• Pattern: In predauers, Pmir-34::gfp expression was increased in amphid neurons, especially in AWC neurons. Higher expression levels were later observed in the excretory canal, seam cells and vulval precursor cells, and in ventral and dorsal nerve cord and tail neurons. Hypodermal expression appeared in day 1 dauers, and reached the highest level at the 2nd day of the dauer stage, when dauers shed their cuticle.

0 Life Stages

1 Parents

Definition	Name	Synonym	Primary Identifier
precursor cell destined to divide some time after hatching.	blast cell		WBbt:0006783