Description |
mex-3 encodes two KH domain-containing RNA binding proteins; in the early embryo, maternally provided MEX-3 is required for specifying the identities of the anterior AB blastomere and its descendants, as well as for the identity of the P3 blastomere and proper segregation of the germline P granules; mex-3 mRNA is distributed uniformly in the syncytial core of the adult distal gonad, mature oocytes, and early 1-cell stage embryos, but then becomes more prominent in the AB blastomere and its daughters by the 4-cell stage after which it is rapidly degraded save for the D and P4 blastomeres; MEX-3 protein is also detected uniformly in the cytoplasm of oocytes and 1-cell stage embryos, but like the mRNA, becomes more abundant in AB and its daughters at the 2- and 4-cell stages, respectively, before disappearing; MEX-3 is also detected in association with P granules from the 2-cell stage until the late stages of embryogenesis. |