Worm Breeder's Gazette 2(2): 5a
These abstracts should not be cited in bibliographies. Material contained herein should be treated as personal communication and should be cited as such only with the consent of the author.
A method for fixing and embedding C. elegans eggs will be introduced. It involves prolonged osmium or glutaraldehyde-osmium fixation at elevated temperatures. This procedure works on all stages of embryogenesis. 16 embryos in various stages ranging from an uncleaved zygote to a prehatching 'pretzel' have been serially sectioned. The analysis of a 5-hour embryo with 294 cells and of a 7-hour embryo with 540 cells will be presented. Data from the 5-hour embryo supplement the Nomarski results. Data from the 7-hour embryo will be compared with the anatomy of the young L1 worked out by Sulston and Horvitz.