Synthesis of oogenesis specific proteins inCaenorhabditis elegans: an approach to the study of vitellogenesis in a nematode

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Abstract
In vivo labeled proteins from the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans were analyzed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and fluorography. The study was performed in the wild-type strain during development and in several mutants displaying altered gametogenesis or altered embryogenesis. The patterns observed during the last larval stage and the beginning of the adult stage show that the synthesis of the 4 adult-hermaphrodite specific proteins described by Klass is tightly correlated to the onset of oogenesis. This synthesis takes place mainly in the intestine and, to a lesser extent, in the two gonadal arms. This synthesis is also observed in all the mutants studied including those which produce no diakinetic growing oocytes. Furthermore, in mutants, a difference in the labeling intensity of the 4 adult-hermaphrodite specific proteins was observed in relation to the ability to lay eggs. These results suggest that these proteins are yolk proteins. Possible interaction between the control of oogenesis and the control of yolk protein synthesis is discussed.