Abstract
The complete description of its nearly invariant cell lineage (1,2) and the growing availability of cloned genes and markers for the cell lineage make Caenorhabditis elegans particularly favorable for mosaic analysis, and the literature is rich in examples that prove the usefulness of this approach. Because genetic mosaic analysis in C. elegans has recently been reviewed by Herman (3) who developed many of the techniques (3–6), this review will be more concerned with recent technical advances rather than with an extensive background of the approach. First we shall present a brief summary of the principles of mosaic analysis as it is typically performed in C. elegans. This will be followed by a description of markers that indicate mosaicism and by a discussion of a hypothetical analysis of an essential gene.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Sulston, J. E. and Horvitz, H. R. (1977) Post-embryonic cell lineages of the nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans. Dev. Biol. 56, 110–156.
Sulston, J. E., Schierenberg, E., White, J. G., and Thomson, J. N. (1983) The embryonic cell lineage of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Dev. Biol. 100, 64–119.
Herman, R. (1995) Mosaic analysis in Caenorhabditis elegans: Modern biological analysis of an organism, in Methods in Cell Biology, vol. 48 (Epstein, H. F. and Shakes, D. C., eds.), Academic, San Diego, CA, pp. 123–146.
Hedgecock, E. M. and Herman, R. K. (1995) The ncl-1 gene and genetic mosaics of Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics 141, 989–1006.
Herman, R. K. (1984) Analysis of genetic mosaics of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics 108, 165–180.
Herman, R. K. (1989) Mosaic analysis in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. J. Neurogenet. 5, 1–24.
Han, M. and Sternberg, P. W. (1990) let-60, a gene that specifies cell fates during C. elegans vulval induction, encodes a ras protein. Cell 63, 921–931.
Han, M., Aroian, R. V., and Sternberg, P. W. (1990) The let-60 locus controls the switch between vulval and nonvulval cell fates in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics 126, 899–913.
Yochem, J., Sundaram, M., and Han, M. (1997) Ras is required for a limited number of cell fates and not for general proliferation in Caenorhabditis elegans. Mol. Cell. Biol. 17, 2716–2722.
Seydoux, G. and Greenwald, I. (1989) Cell autonomy of lin-12 function in a cell fate decision in C. elegans. Cell 57, 1237–1245.
Albertson, D. G. and Thomson, J. N. (1982) The kinetochores of Caenorhabditis elegans. Chromosoma 86, 409–428.
Herman, R. K., Madl, J. E., and Kari, C. K. (1979) Duplications in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics 92, 419–435.
Lackner, M. R., Kornfeld, K., Miller, L. M., Horvitz, H. R., and Kim, S. K. (1994) A MAP kinase homolog, mpk-1, is involved in ras-mediated induction of vulval cell fates in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genes Dev. 8, 160–173.
Mello, C. and Fire, A. (1995) DNA transformation, in Methods in Cell Biology, vol. 48 (Epstein, H. F. and Shakes, D. C., eds.), Academic, San Diego, CA, pp. 451–482.
Mello, C. C., Kramer, J. M., Stinchcomb, D., and Ambros, V. (1991) Efficient gene transfer in C. elegans: Extrachromosomal maintenance and integration of transforming sequences. EMBO J. 10, 3959–3970.
Miller, L. M., Waring, D. A., and Kim, S. K. (1996) Mosaic analysis using a ncl-1 (+) extrachromosomal array reveals that lin-31 acts in the Pn.p cells during Caenorhabditis elegans vulval development. Genetics 143, 1181–1191.
Yochem, J., Gu, T., and Han, M. (1998) A new marker for mosaic analysis in Caenorhabditis elegans indicates a fusion between hyp6 and hyp7, two major components of the hypodermis. Genetics 149, 1323–1334.
Chalfie, M., Tu, Y., Euskirchen, G., Ward, W. W., and Prasher, D. C. (1994) Green fluorescent protein as a marker for gene expression. Science 263, 802–805.
Gu, T., Orita, S., and Han, M. (1998) Caenorhabditis elegans SUR-5, a novel but conserved protein, negatively regulates LET-60 Ras activity during vulval induction. Mol. Cell Biol. 18, 4556–4564.
Brenner, S. (1974) The genetics of Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics 77, 71–94.
Burdine, R. D., Branda, C. S., and Stern, M. J. (1998) EGL-17(FGF) expression coordinates the attraction of the migrating sex myoblasts with vulval induction in C. elegans. Development 125, 1083–1093.
Hodgkin, J. (1997) Genetics, in C. elegans II (Riddle, D. L., Blumenthal, T., Meyer, B. J., and Priess, J. R., eds.), Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Plainview, NY, pp. 881–1047.
Herman, R. K. and Kari, C. K. (1985) Muscle-specific expression of a gene affecting actylcholinesterase in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Cell 40, 509–514.
Johnson, C. D., Rand, J. B., Herman, R. K., Stern, B. D., and Russell, R. L. (1988) The acetylcholinesterase genes of C. elegans: Identification of a third gene (ace-3) and mosaic mapping of a synthetic lethal phenotype. Neuron 1, 165–173.
Yuan, J. Y. and Horvitz, H. R. (1990) The Caenorhabditis elegans genes ced-3 and ced-4 act cell autonomously to cause programmed cell death. Dev. Biol. 138, 33–41.
Villeneuve, A. M. and Meyer, B. J. (1990) The role of sdc-1 in the sex determination and dosage compensation decisions in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics 124, 91–114.
Kenyon, C. (1986) A gene involved in the development of the posterior body region of C. elegans. Cell 46, 477–487.
Hunter, C. P. and Wood, W. B. (1990) The tra-1 gene determines sexual phenotype cell-autonomously in C. elegans. Cell 63, 1193–1204.
Iwasaki, K., McCarter, J., Francis, R., and Schedl, T. (1996) emo-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans Sec61p gamma homologue, is required for oocyte development and ovulation. J. Cell Biol. 134, 699–714.
Austin, J. and Kimble, J. (1987) glp-1 is required in the germ line for regulation of the decision between mitosis and meiosis in C. elegans. Cell 51, 589–599.
Koga, M. and Ohshima, Y. (1995) Mosaic analysis of the let-23 gene function in vulval induction of Caenorhabditis elegans. Development 121, 2655–2666.
Simske, J. S. and Kim, S. K. (1995). Sequential signalling during Caenorhabditis elegans vulval induction. Nature 375, 142–146.
Chow, K. L., Hall, D. H., and Emmons, S. W. (1995) The mab-21 gene of Caenorhabditis elegans encodes a novel protein required for choice of alternate cell fates. Development 121, 3615–3626.
Herman, R. K. (1987) Mosaic analysis of two genes that affect nervous system structure in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics 116, 377–388.
Jia, Y., Xie, G., McDermott, J. B., and Aamodt, E. (1997) The C. elegans gene pag-3 is homologous to the zinc finger proto-oncogene gfi-1. Development 124, 2063–2073.
Starich, T. A., Herman, R. K., and Shaw, J. E. (1993) Molecular and genetic analysis of unc-7, a Caenorhabditis elegans gene required for coordinated locomotion. Genetics 133, 527–541.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2000 Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Yochem, J., Sundaram, M., Bucher, E.A. (2000). Mosaic Analysis in Caenorhabditis elegans . In: Walker, J.M., Tuan, R.S., Lo, C.W. (eds) Developmental Biology Protocols. Methods in Molecular Biology™, vol 135. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1385/1-59259-685-1:447
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1385/1-59259-685-1:447
Publisher Name: Humana Press
Print ISBN: 978-0-89603-852-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-59259-685-0
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols