Fig. 8. let-502 affects oocyte cellularization, and LET-502 and MEL-11
localize to gonad membranes. (i) A schematic outlines the structure of a gonad
arm from an adult hermaphrodite. (ii) Nomarski photograph of two embryos of
very different sizes collected from a let-502(sb106) hermaphrodite.
Compared with wildtype, which has a very narrow size distribution,
let-502 embryos vary substantially above and below the mean (data not
shown). Bar, 7.5 µm. (iii) The distal portion of the arm, consisting of a
syncitium of nuclei in meiotic prophase, was immunostained for deconvolution.
Partitions outline each nucleus (as observed from z sections taken
superficially near the surface of the gonad arm in A-C and G-I), but these
partitions do not extend into the central core (as observed by more central
z sections D-F and J-L) where the nuclei are connected by a common
cytoplasm. (A-F) LET-502 and MEL-11 colocalize at the membrane that surrounds
the syncitial nuclei in wild-type gonads. (A-C) is a superficial z
section and (D-F) is a z section from near the centre of the arm.
(G-L) Gonads from let-502(sb106) hermaphrodites are thinner compared
with a corresponding region of the wild-type gonad and are sometimes
multinucleate, as indicated by the arrow (G-I superficial view versus J-L
central view). Bar, 10 µm. (iv) (M-Q) LET-502, NMY-2 and MEL-11 localize to
oocyte boundaries after cellularization. Bar, 25 µm. (A-F) n=4,
(M-O) n=6 stained for both LET-502 and NMY-2 and n=23
stained for LET-502 only, (P-Q) n=8.
