Worm Breeder's Gazette 5(2): 42b
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.
Mutations in two genes, ced-1 and ced-2, alter the duration of programmed cell deaths seen by Nomarski microscopy. The refractile stage during which the nucleus assumes a uniform raised appearance lasts for hours instead of minutes. The DNA of dead cells persists as compact dots of Feulgen reactive material similar to the persistant DNA from cell deaths in the endodeoxyribonuclease deficient mutant e1392 (nuc-1, X) described by M. Dew and J. Sulston in WBG vol. 1, number 1, December 1975. All cell deaths, embryonic and post- embryonic, appear to be affected. The phenotypes are similar for mutations in either gene and there is no defect apparent using the dissecting microscope alone. [See Figure 1]