Immunofluorescent localization of thymidylate synthase in the development of Trichinella spiralis and Caenorhabditis elegans

Localization of thymidylate synthase protein in Trichinella spiralis and Caenorhabditis elegans development was followed with the use of confocal microscopy, revealing similar expression patterns in both nematode species. In T. spiralis premature muscle larvae and C. elegans dauer, L3 and L4 larvae, thymidylate synthase was detected in the nerve ring and gonad primordia, as well as T. spiralis stichosome and C. elegans pharyngeal glandular cells. In developmentally arrested T. spiralis muscle larvae, the enzyme was found localized to the gonad primordia and stichosome. High enzyme level was also observed in the embryos developing in uteri of T. spiralis female adult and C. elegans hermaphrodite forms. In the case of T. spiralis adult forms, thymidylate synthase was detected in stichosome, along esophagus wall, as well as in egg and sperm cells. While the enzyme protein present in the embryos remains in accord with its known association with proliferating systems, thymidylate synthase presence in the nerve ring, and reproductive and secretory (T. spiralis stichosomal and C. elegans pharyngeal glandular cells) systems, points to a state of cell cycle-arrest, also known to preserve the enzyme protein.

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► Non-developing nematode larvae are rich in thymidylate synthase, undetectable in quiescent cells.
► T. spiralis muscle larva nerve ring, gonad primordia and stichosome show high enzyme level.
► C. elegans dauer larva nerve ring and gonad primordia are also rich in the enzyme.
► The enzyme is present and similarly located throughout T. spiralis and C. elegans development.