WormMine: ExpressionPattern Expr3093

• Pattern: In larvae and adults, expression is observed in several cells of the head that likely correspond to extrapharyngeal neurons, including at least two amphid neurons, and also in intestinal cells (mostly the posterior cells) as well as the three rectal gland cells and 1 to 2 other unidentified rectal cells. In larvae and adult worms, very weak pharyngeal expression of pPHA-2::GFP-A persists in nuclei of the posterior bulb, metacorpus, and procorpus. While the pm4 and pm5 muscle cells were identified as positive nuclei in these transgenic animals, it was often difficult to identify with confidence the positive cells because the pPHA2::GFP-A construct itself caused a pharyngeal phenotype in a small fraction of the transgenic animals. The earliest unambiguous expression of pPHA2::GFP-A began in 4 to 8 cells of the pharyngeal primordium at around 280 to 300 min of embryonic development, which is after gastrulation and at a time when the pharyngeal primordium becomes clearly defined but before the formation of a surrounding basal lamina. Just before the comma stage (approximately 350 min), expression is observed in two groups of pharyngeal primordium cells: a strongly expressing posterior group comprising 10 to 12 cells and a small anterior group (usually 3 to 5 cells) expressing weak levels of the reporter. This pattern persists until the 3-fold stage. During the 2-to-3-fold transition, the posterior group of cells splits into two groups: one group of positive nuclei move into the forming metacorpus while a larger group remains associated with the posterior part of the primordium, where the anterior part of the posterior bulb is forming. Beginning at the 3-fold stage, or slightly before that, strong expression is also observed in several cells of the tail.
• Primary Identifier: Expr3093
• Subcellular Localization: The fusion protein was mostly confined to the cell nucleus.

4 Anatomy Terms

Definition	Name	Synonym	Primary Identifier
A chain of very large cuboidal cells forming a wide central lumen in which food arrives from the posterior pharynx, is digested, and from which waste products proceed to the rectum. Intestinal rings form in groups of two and four cells surrounding the common lumen; thus the epithelium is only one cell deep at any point, with neighboring cells firmly secured to their neighbors by apical adherens junctions. These cells have very large nuclei and many large vacuoles, yolk granules, and other inclusions; the latter increase in number and electron density as the animal ages.	intestine	gut	WBbt:0005772
the feeding organ, a neuro-muscular pump in the head of the animal, used to ingest food, bacteria suspended in liquid, filter them out, grind them up and transport posteriorly into the instestine.	pharynx	esophagus	WBbt:0003681
neuron with its cell body situated in the head, excluding the pharynx.	head neuron		WBbt:0006751
	rectal gland cell		WBbt:0005799

1 Genes

WormBase Gene ID	Gene Name	Sequence Name	Organism
WBGene00004011	pha-2	M6.3	Caenorhabditis elegans

0 Life Stages