We are studying mechano-sensitive ion channels in the nematode C.elegans. Components of these channels were originally identified in my laboratory by the isolation of mutants that exhibited degenerations in specific neurones during post-embryonic development. One such component is the product of the deg-1 gene. Mutants in deg-1 exhibit some neural degenerations when reared at 25 degrees C. Mutant embryos of the u506 allele of the deg- 1 gene die, but only at 15 degrees C not 25 degrees C. I will use the 4-D video microscopy system at the IMR to determine which cells, if any, degenerate in embryos reared at low temperature. Multiple focal plane, time-lapse recordings will be made of early developing u508 embryos kept at 15 degrees C. If any degenerating cells are observed at the time the embryo stops developing, the cell lineage, and hence the identity, of the degenerating cells will be determined by tracing the lineages backwards in time. In this way I should be able to ascertain whether the embryonic death is caused by degenerations of specific cells or whether it occurs for some other reason.
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