Worming our way in and out of the Caenorhabditis elegans germline and developing embryo

The germline and embryo of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans have emerged as powerful model systems to study membrane dynamics in an intact, developing animal. In large part, this is due to the architecture of the reproductive system, which necessitates de novo membrane and organelle biogenesis within the stem cell niche to drive compartmentalization throughout the gonad syncytium. Additionally, membrane reorganization events during oocyte maturation and fertilization have been demonstrated to be highly stereotypic, facilitating the development of quantitative assays to measure the impact of perturbations on protein transport. This review will focus on regulatory mechanisms that govern protein trafficking, which have been elucidated using a combination of C. elegans genetics, biochemistry and high-resolution microscopy. Collectively, studies using the simple worm highlight an important niche that the organism holds to define new pathways that regulate vesicle transport, many of which appear to be absent in unicellular systems but remain highly conserved in mammals.