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In the Caenorhabditis elegans germ line, germ cells proliferate at one end and progress through meiosis and gametogenesis as they move away from the proliferative region. This image shows an adult hermaphrodite germ line obtained from a worm that was labeled with bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) and then chased in the absence of BrdU. Initially all germ cells had high levels of BrdU; however, as the chase progressed, the proliferative germ cells (in the region with the green phosphohistone-positive nuclei) diluted the BrdU. Mature oocytes are found at the opposite end of the germ line; they contain highly condensed chromosomes labeled with BrdU. The pattern of BrdU loss and movement during increasingly long chase periods indicates that germ cells in the mitotic region cycle at similar rates, self-renew, and contribute to the meiotic population. See the full article by Crittenden et al. on p. 3051 in this issue of MBC. (Image: Sarah Crittenden, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and University of Wisconsin-Madison)

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Copyright © 2006 by The American Society for Cell Biology.