- page settings
- showhide sidebar
- showhide empty fields
- layout
- (too narrow)
- open all
- close all
- Page Content
- Overview
- External Links
- History
- Referenced
- Tools
- Tree Display
- My WormBase
- My Favorites
- My Library
- Recent Activity
- Comments (0)
history logging is off
Tree Display
My Favorites
My Library
Comments on P. Meister et al. (2006) European Worm Meeting "Subnuclear Positioning Changes upon Activation of Transcription in C. elegans" (0)
Overview
P. Meister, B. Pike, & S.M. Gasser (2006). Subnuclear Positioning Changes upon Activation of Transcription in C. elegans presented in European Worm Meeting. Unpublished information; cite only with author permission.
P. Meister, B. Pike and S.M. Gasser. Active and inactive genes are not randomly positioned in the eukaryotic nucleus, yet the impact of their localization is still not completely understood. Moreover, it is not yet established in the context of a whole organism with differentiated cells whether nuclear positioning of genes precedes or results from functional chromatin characteristics such as timing of replication or transcriptional potential. We use the worm to study nuclear dynamics in the context of a multicellular organism with specialized differentiated cells. We created strains expressing GFP-lacI under transcriptional control of an ubiquitous promoter by injection and integration. Surprisingly, embryos and larvae expressing GFP-lacI show two bright nuclear spots per nucleus. By genetic and FISH analyses, we show that the array itself is recognized by the GFP-lacI protein. This is likely to be due to the presence of a single lacO site in the sequence of the plasmids used to create these arrays. Since most of the arrays created for the last 20 years involve plasmids containing lacO sites, this is a powerful technique to identify arrays localization when genes coded by the arrays are either active or inactive. Indeed, quantitative microscopic analysis shows that the positioning of genes varies in the nuclei of differentiated cells depending on the activity of the integrated promoter.. Using this technique, we will now study the localization of a pharyngeal specific gene array in vivo during differentiation of the pharynx. Future studies will relate the DNA replication timing with expression patterns and subnuclear positioning.