Title: Tracking the development and assembly of single cells
Abstract:
While high-throughput methods provide a sweepingbirds-eye view of development, different insights can be gained by zooming into study how a single cell develops. This is especially true in C.elegans, where each cell’s identity, morphology, and connections are highlystereotyped. Here, we follow the specification and assembly of a singleneuron-glia pair in C. elegans. First, we examine how someprogenitors escape lineage fate restriction in order to undergo convergentdifferentiation, giving rise to a glial cell type that is identical to thatproduced by unrelated lineages. Second, we show how a single neuron pairsoff with one of these glial cells by using its cilium to mediate cell-celladhesion. In-depth analysis of individual gene functions in single cellsprovides a counterpoint to the trend towards massive systems-level descriptionsof entire cell populations.
Host: Sagi Levy
