WormMine: AnatomyTerm WBbt:0003810

• Definition: Embryonic founder cell
• Name: C
• Primary Identifier: WBbt:0003810
• Synonym: lineage name: P0.ppa

3 Children

Definition	Name	Synonym	Primary Identifier
embryonic cell	Cp		WBbt:0006117
embryonic cell	Ca		WBbt:0005980
nucleus of pedigree C	C nucleus		WBbt:0001781

1 Expression Clusters

Regulated By Treatment	Description	Algorithm	Primary Identifier
	Transcripts enriched in emrbyonic C cell comparing to in P3, according to single cell RNAseq.	t-test with p-value < 0.05 (FDR corrected)	WBPaper00041506:C_enriched

24 Expression Patterns

• Primary Identifier: Expr4504
• Pattern: MRG-1 is highly enriched in nuclei and concentrated on chromatin. In early embryos, MRG-1 is present in the nuclei of all blastomeres. In late embryos and young larvae, MRG-1 staining is higher in the nuclei of the two primordial germ cells, Z2 and Z3, than in somatic blastomeres. In larvae and adults, MRG-1 staining is seen primarily in the nuclei of germ cells, although it is also faintly visible in the nuclei of several somatic cell types, including intestinal cells. In the adult germ line, all germ nuclei in the mitotic and meiotic regions are stained. These results demonstrate that MRG-1 is present in the germ line at all stages of development and is maternally loaded into embryos. In addition, zygotically expressed MRG-1 is produced in all cells by at least the 100-cell stage; it accumulates to higher levels in the primordial germ cells than in somatic tissues.
• Subcellular Localization: Expressed in nuclei.

• Primary Identifier: Expr2546
• Remark: INX-3 detected during very early stages of development is likely to be maternally derived, since INX-3::GFP expressed zygotically is first detected by anti-GFP antibodies at approximately the 28-cell stage.
• Pattern: At the late first larval (L1) stage, INX-3 is present transiently in some newly generated cells. The postembryonic motor neurons, descendants of the Pn.a cells, express INX-3 briefly. INX-3 is also detected briefly in cells of the first two divisions of the M blast cell, coelomocytes, and sex muscles. By the comma stage, corresponding to early embryonic morphogenesis, INX-3 is still broadly expressed, but the pattern of expression becomes more restricted as morphogenesis proceeds. Because INX-3 is localized principally in puncta at plasma membranes, it is hard to assign expression unambiguously to individual cells; however, expression in major cell types or organs is clear. Double-labeling embryos with anti-INX-3 and MH27, a mAb that binds AJM-1 in apical epithelial intercellular junctions, indicated that, at the comma stage, INX-3 is localized to the developing intestine, pharynx, and hypodermis (epidermis), at minimum. During late morphogenesis, from the 3-fold stage until hatching, INX-3 is found principally in the posterior pharynx (isthmus and terminal bulb), at the anteriormost tip of the pharynx, in the region of the posterior intestine (probably intestinal muscles or rectal cells) and in the hypodermis. Expression in these tissues continues throughout development into adulthood with the exception of the hypodermis. Hypodermal expression is strong at the time of hatching, and INX-3 is present in plaques at the intercellular boundaries between most hypodermal cells except at the ventral midline between paired P cells; however, INX-3 becomes undetectable in the hypodermis shortly after hatching. INX-3 protein is first detected at the embryonic 2-cell stage. It is localized to small plaques at cellcell interfaces and can be detected throughout early embryogenesis in a pattern suggesting that most or all cells express inx-3. In adults, INX-3 is reduced such that only a few plaques are associated with vulval muscles. In the late L3 stage, INX-3 expression begins in the sex myoblasts (SMs). Expression continues in SM descendants so that all 16 sex muscles stain with anti-INX-3 in early L4 animals, confirming results obtained with an inx-3::gfp translational fusion gene.
• Subcellular Localization: At embryonic 2-cell stage, localized to small plaques at cellcell interfaces. At the late first larval (L1) stage, INX-3 is present transiently in some newly generated cells, and in cells of the first two divisions of the M blast cell, coelomocytes, and sex muscles. INX-3 is readily detectable in the cytoplasm of these cells, as well as in cell-surface plaques. By the comma stage, INX-3 is localized principally in puncta at plasma membranes. At comma stage, within intestinal cells, whose large size allows easy visualization of subcellular location, INX-3 is localized to the basal portion of lateral membranes.

• Primary Identifier: Expr1736
• Remark: early embryo (author) = blastula embryo (curator) --wjc.
• Pattern: In early embryos, MES-3 protein is present in the nuclei of all cells. As embryogenesis progresses, staining gradually diminishes in somatic cells. In late embryos and L1 larvae, MES-3 is detectable in some somatic cells but is most prominent in Z2 and Z3, the primordial germ cells. The nuclear staining of MES-3 is reduced below detection in any of the four nonconditional alleles of mes-3. In wild type adults, MES-3 is most prominent in germline nuclei and is occasionally barely detectable in intestinal nuclei. In the germline, it is present at low levels in distal mitotic nuclei, undetectable in the pachytene region of the distal arm, and present at elevated levels in the proximal meiotic region and in oocytes.
• Subcellular Localization: MES-3 is localized predominantly in nuclei. The immunolocalization pattern of MES-3 was analyzed in embryos, using confocal microscopy. Cells at different stages of mitosis were stained by affinity-purified anti-MES-3 antibody and anti-penta-acetylated H4 antibody to visualize chromosomes. During interphase and prometaphase, when condensed chromosomes are clearly visible in nuclei, MES-3 protein is not obviously concentrated on chromosomes; instead it appears evenly distributed in the nucleoplasm. During metaphase and early anaphase, when nuclear envelopes are broken down, some MES-3 protein is detectably associated with chromosomes.

• Primary Identifier: Expr677
• Remark: This information was extracted from published material (Archana Sharma-Oates, Andrew Mounsey and Ian A. Hope).
• Pattern: At one cell stage, there is no signal detected. Expression is first detected at two and four cell stage, pattern is variable at this stage. In most (35/48) of four cell embryos transcript is detected in posterior P1 cell or its immediate daughters. By 8 cell stage, signal detected in all blastomeres. In 3/48 expression is seen in the somatic AB cell and its immediate daughters, whereas 10/48 embryos ftt-2 messages were present in both lineages. ftt-2 transcript levels remain high in older embryos and during early elongation stage of morphogenesis, the transcript becomes localized to the region of the developing gonad and gut. Undetectable in maturing germ cells or maturing oocytes.

• 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: Expr550
• Remark: early embryo(author) = blastula embryo(curator).
• Pattern: PAL-1 protein was detected in all P1 descendants from the 4-cell through the 24-cell stage. Staining was variable at the 24-cell stage. At the 28-cell stage, PAL-1 was detected in all P2 descendants.

• Primary Identifier: Expr583
• Remark: The antibodies recognized both isoforms of GLD-1. early embryo(author) = blastula embryo(curator).
• Pattern: GLD-1 is first detected in EMS and P2 at the 4-cell stage. It remains in the germ line throughout embryogenesis, but is lost from MS, E, C and D when these somatic cells divide.

• Primary Identifier: Expr8706
• Remark: Picture: Fig. 5. The same pattern was seen with two separate antibodies raised against distinct PLP-1 peptides, and both nuclear and P granule expression was largely eliminated in plp-1 (RNAi) embryos, confirming their specificity.
• Pattern: Immunoreactive PLP-1 localizes to the nuclei of all blastomeres beginning by the two-cell stage of embryogenesis, implying that PLP-1 is a maternally encoded transcription factor. It is also present in the germline-specific P granules of early embryos.
• Subcellular Localization: PLP-1 is transiently asymmetrically localized during telophase of the dividing EMS cell (observed in 12 embryos at the correct stage), with higher levels of the protein in the chromatin of the future E cell nucleus and low or undetectable levels in that of MS. A similar transient asymmetry in PLP-1 levels was observed at many divisions throughout early development, starting at cleavage of the zygote, with higher levels seen in the cytoplasm and forming nucleus of the posterior daughter, P1 (observed in 5 embryos). The anteroposterior asymmetry in PLP-1 was also observed in the AB lineage during the division of the AB granddaughters (observed in 7 embryos): for example, PLP-1 is higher in the chromatin of the posterior daughter ABalp than that of its anterior sister ABala. In all cases, the asymmetry was observed only during telophase and at the time that nuclei were reassembling after cell division; the staining was symmetric at all other times. PLP-1 was always seen at higher levels in the forming nuclei of the posterior daughters.

• Primary Identifier: Expr103
• Remark: Other strain-- UL123
• Pattern: This strain exhibits strong expression in the embryo. Expression is first seen in the 50-80 cell embryo and extends through to adulthood. It appears that most of the AB cells in the embryo stain, and what appears to be the cells of the C lineage. Some embryos exhibit staining in the two rows of nuclei that are the E lineage. All embryonic staining is very intense, and it spreads to the cytoplasm giving blue embryos, therefore obscuring the DAPI staining, making it difficult to count the number of cells in the embryos as each component begins expressing. This intense staining fades as the embryo ages, sometimes leaving blue comma stage embryos with no distinct nuclei staining. Hypodermal expression is seen in the 3 fold stage of embryogenesis and in young larvae which most probably are C-derived hyp-7 nuclei. Expression weakens as the worm gets older and is much less frequently expressed in adults. Some adults do show staining in the anterior hypodermal nuclei (hyp-3, hyp-4) and in the anterior hypodermal seam cells, also some nuclei stain in the tail.

• Primary Identifier: Expr584
• Remark: early embryo(author) = blastula embryo(curator).
• Pattern: gld-1 mRNA is contained in all blastmeres of embryos with 8 or fewer cells. Subsequently, gld-1 mRNA disappears rapidly from somatic blastmeres and is only detected in the germ lineage. By the 16 cell stage, gld-1 mRNA is only detected in P3.

• Primary Identifier: Expr3226
• Pattern: A pal-1 promoter::YFP fusion is expressed exclusively in the C and D lineage of early wild-type embryos.

• Primary Identifier: Expr2551
• Pattern: In situ hybridization analysis revealed that spn-4 mRNA was abundant in early embryos. The mRNA was present at the same level in all blastomeres up to the 4-cell stage. Afterwards, it persists in the P blastomere and its sister, and then just the germ lineage. The mRNA was also present in the adult gonads.

• Primary Identifier: Expr12387
• Pattern: Pmex-5-SDN-1:: GFP colocalized with the membrane marker pleckstrin homology domain PH::mCherry and appeared uniform on the surface of ABar and C at the six-cell stage.

• Primary Identifier: Expr2947
• Pattern: In late embryos (after the comma stage) matefin staining decreased in all somatic cells but intensified in the nuclear envelopes of the two primordial germ cells, Z2 and Z3. The identity of Z2 and Z3 cells was verified by double labeling with antibodies against PGL-1, which is specific to germ cells. Throughout larva stages L1-L4 and in adults, matefin was present only in germ cells. Matefin signal declined during spermatogenesis and was undetectable in sperm.
• Subcellular Localization: Matefin was detected at the nuclear envelope of all early embryonic cells.

• Primary Identifier: Expr3146
• Remark: sdz-4 = C32B5.16
• Pattern: Expressed ubiquitously starting at the 12-cell stage.

• Primary Identifier: Expr13236
• Pattern: In the 8-cell embryo, when there are four AB- derived blastomeres (two ABa daughters and two ABp daughters), the smFISH signal was consistently 2-4 fold higher in the ABp-derived blastomeres. In the 14-15 cell embryo, when there are eight AB-derived blastomeres, elevated smFISH signal was detected primarily in two of the four ABa granddaughters (ABalp and ABara), in addition to all ABp-derived blastomeres.

• Primary Identifier: Expr3147
• Remark: sdz-33 = Y56A3A.14
• Pattern: Expressed ubiquitously starting at the 12-cell stage.

• Primary Identifier: Expr572
• Remark: early embryo(author) = blastula embryo(curator).
• Pattern: SKN-1 protein first becomes visible in oocyte and sperm pronuclei before the first mitotic division of the zygote. SKN-1 becomes cytoplasmic as AB and P1 enter mitosis. P2 and EMS have more SKN-1 than AB daughters. By the 8-cell stage, the granddaughters of AB do not stain for SKN-1, but P1 granddaughters do. SKN-1 is not detectable by the 12-cell stage.
• Subcellular Localization: After the first cleavage, SKN-1 protein locates at the nuclei of AB and P1. As AB and P1 enter mitosis, SKN-1 protein is distributed throughout cytoplasm.

• Primary Identifier: Expr3148
• Remark: sdz-36 = ZK1251.7
• Pattern: Expressed ubiquitously starting at the 12-cell stage.

• Primary Identifier: Expr125
• Remark: Other strain-- UL508 mid embryo + late embryo(author) = late cleavage stage embryo + elongating embryo + fully-elongated embryo(curator).
• Pattern: Expression is seen from embryos to adults in the hyp-7 nuclei. In embryos expression begins in the 200-300 cell stage and is usually comprised of two rows of 6 or 7 cells. In larvae, two rows of staining nuclei are seen down the length of the body. Staining is often restricted to the anterior half of the worm, with only a single row of staining nuclei in adults.

• Primary Identifier: Expr576
• Remark: Maternal effect. early embryo(author) = blastula + gastrulating embryo(curator).
• Pattern: In adult hermaphrodites, mex-1 mRNA is detected in the syncytial core of the gonad and in oocytes at all stages of maturation. In 1 and 2-cell stage embryos, mex-1 mRNA is distributed uniformly, but then appears to be degraded rapidly in somatic blastomeres but remains in germ line blastomeres in subsequent divisions. After P4 divides, mex-1 mRNA is not detected.

• Primary Identifier: Expr706
• Remark: This information was extracted from published material (Archana Sharma-Oates, Andrew Mounsey and Ian A. Hope).
• Pattern: NHR-2 is detected in the nuclei of embryos as early as 2-cell stage. The protein is present in every nucleus until the 16-20 cell stage then no longer detected in germline precursor P4 and its sister D but at this point expression in other cells increase. No staining during or just after mitosis. 28-cell stage: Staining in E and MS descendants, variable expression generally weak particularly in E cells. Staining in ABplp and ABpr descendants also variable but can be quite strong. The other 10 AB cells and 4 C cells exhibit reproducible strong expression. 51-cell stage: No expression in descendants of E. Staining in C cells, many AB cells and some MS cells (particularly those in anterior and dorsal positions). As embryogenesis progresses NHR-2 expression is restricted to anterior and dorsal regions of embryo. 250 cell stage: Nuclei staining include (but not limited to) Cp descendants contributing to hyp7 synctium, many but not all AB descendants. NHR-2 last detected in one or a few nuclei in vicinity of excretory cell before expression ceases at early comma stage.

• Primary Identifier: Expr545
• Remark: See Expression pattern 546 for distribution of APX-1 protein. early embryo(author) = blastula embryo(curator).
• Pattern: Between the newly-fertilized 1-cell stage and the 8-cell stage, apx-1 mRNA is present in all blastomeres at equivalent levels. After the 8-cell stage, apx-1 mRNA rapidly disappears from somatic blastomeres; in 12-cell stage embryos, apx-1 mRNA is visible in the P3 blastomere, but disappears from MS and all other blastomeres. In the 36-cell stage and later embryos, apx-1 mRNA was detected in one to five unidentified nuclei.

• Primary Identifier: Expr2575
• Pattern: In situ hybridization analysis revealed that spn-4 mRNA was abundant in early embryos. The mRNA was present at the same level in all blastomeres up to the 4-cell stage. Afterwards, it persists in the P blastomere and its sister, and then just the germ lineage. The mRNA was also present in the adult gonads.

4 Life Stages

Remark	Definition	Other Name	Public Name	Primary Identifier
	The whole period of embryogenesis in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, from the formation of an egg until hatching.		embryo Ce	WBls:0000003
	The C. elegans life stage spanning 0-350min after first cleavage at 20 Centigrade. Proliferate from 1 cell to 560 cells. From start of first cleavage until cleavage is over.		proliferating embryo Ce	WBls:0000004
	The C. elegans life stage spanning 0-100min after first cleavage at 20 Centigrade. Proliferate from 1 cell to 28 cells. From first cleavage until the start of gastrulation.		blastula embryo Ce	WBls:0000005
	The C. elegans life stage spanning ~55 min after first cleavage at 20 Centigrade. Contains 12 cells.		12-cell embryo Ce	WBls:0000072

2 Parents

Definition	Name	Synonym	Primary Identifier
embryonic founder cell	Psub2	lineage name: P0.pp	WBbt:0006873
Embryonic cell which descends from the same parent cell as a germline blastomere.	somatic blastomere		WBbt:0008447