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Echinobase
ECB-ART-43336
Dev Dyn 2014 Jul 01;2437:917-27. doi: 10.1002/dvdy.24133.
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Migration of sea urchin primordial germ cells.

Campanale JP , Gökirmak T , Espinoza JA , Oulhen N , Wessel GM , Hamdoun A .


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BACKGROUND: Small micromeres are produced at the fifth cleavage of sea urchin development. They express markers of primordial germ cells (PGCs), and are required for the production of gametes. In most animals, PGCs migrate from sites of formation to the somatic gonad. Here, we investigated whether they also exhibit similar migratory behaviors using live-cell imaging of small micromere plasma membranes. RESULTS: Early in gastrulation, small micromeres transition from non-motile epithelial cells, to motile quasi-mesenchymal cells. Late in gastrulation, at 43 hr post fertilization (HPF), they are embedded in the tip of the archenteron, but remain motile. From 43-49 HPF, they project numerous cortical blebs into the blastocoel, and filopodia that contact ectoderm. By 54 HPF, they begin moving in the plane of the blastoderm, often in a directed fashion, towards the coelomic pouches. Isolated small micromeres also produced blebs and filopodia. CONCLUSIONS: Previous work suggested that passive translocation governs some of the movement of small micromeres during gastrulation. Here we show that small micromeres are motile cells that can traverse the archenteron, change position along the left-right axis, and migrate to coelomic pouches. These motility mechanisms are likely to play an important role in their left-right segregation.

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Genes referenced: LOC100887844 LOC115919910

References [+] :
Blaser, Transition from non-motile behaviour to directed migration during early PGC development in zebrafish. 2005, Pubmed