Polarization of the one-cell C. elegans embryo involves long range flows of a thin layer of contractile actomyosin at the cell cortex. These flows from posterior to anterior are critical for establishing asymmetry of the embryo as they are able to induce the segregation of PAR-3/PAR-6/aPKC into the anterior half of the embryo (see related video). In this movie, green fluorescence protein (GFP) is used to label NMY-2, the myosin motor that drives these cortical flows. Download
© Goehring Lab 2014