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[
Genetics,
1974]
Methods are described for the isolation, complementation and mapping of mutants of Caenorhabditis elegans, a small free-living nematode worm. About 300 EMS-induced mutants affecting behavior and morphology have been characterized and about one hundred genes have been defined. Mutations in 77 of these alter movement of the animal. Estimates of the induced mutation frequency of both the visible mutants and X chromosome lethals suggest that, just as in Drosophila, the genetic units in C. elegans are large.
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[
Trends Biochem Sci,
1984]
For this 100th issue of TIBS, we were asked to look back at our subjects about eight years to when the journal first appeared and to discuss the important developments since that time. I found myself looking further back and I beg the reader's indulgence for some history that goes back some 21 years to the origins of our work on Caenorhabditis elegans.
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[
British Medical Bulletin,
1973]
There is growing interest in the study of the genetics of behaviour. No one can doubt that the behaviour patterns of higher organisms are central for their existence and survival and that changes in these patterns have accompanied evolutionary diversification. Micro-organisms pursue a mode of existence close to the molecular level and very little is interposed between the environment and the biochemical machinery of uptake, biosynthesis and replication. The opposite is true of higher organisms, where we find an elaborate apparatus that is responsible for the generation and control of movement, for the detection of food and for mating. Much of this is genetically determined and, particularly in invertebrates, there are complex sequences of behaviour which are not learnt but are programmed by the genes.
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[
Chembiochem,
2003]
The title of my lecture is "Nature's gift to Science". It is not a lecture about one scientific journal paying respect to another, but about how the great diversity of the living world can both inspire and serve innovation in biological research. Current ideas of the uses of model organisms spring from the exemplars of the past and choosing the right organism for one's research is as important as finding the right problems to work on. In all of my research these two decisions have been closely intertwined. Without doubt, the fourth winner of the Nobel prize this year is Caenorhabditis elegans; it deserves all of the honour but, of course, it will not be able to share
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[
Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol,
2008]
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[
Nature,
1993]
Cloning and sequencing techniques now allow us to characterize genes directly instead of having to deduce their properties from their effects. This new genetics reaches its apotheosis in the plan to obtain the complete DNA sequence of the human genome, but this is far beyond the capacity of present sequencing methods. Small 'model' genomes, 'such as those of Escherichia coli (4.7 megabases (Mb) and yeast (14 Mb), or even those of Caenorhabditis elegans (100 Mb) and Drosophila (165 Mb), are better scaled to existing technology. The yeast genome will contain genes with functions common to all eukaryotic cells, and those of simple multicellular organisms may throw light on the genetic specification of more complex functions. However, vertebrates differ in their morphology and development, so the ideal model would be a vertebrate genome of minimum size and complexity but with maximum homology to the human genome. Here we report the characterization of the small genome (400 Mb) of the tetraodontoid fish, Fugu rubripes. A random sequencing approach supported by gene probing shows that the haploid genome contains 400 Mb of DNA, of which more that 90% is unique. This genome is 7.5 times smaller than the human genome and because it has a similar gene repertoire it is the best model genome for the discovery of human genes.
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[
Methods Mol Biol,
2006]
The establishment of Caenorhabditis elegans as a "model organism" began with the efforts of Sydney Brenner in the early 1960s. Brenner''s focus was to find a suitable animal model in which the tools of genetic analysis could be used to define molecular mechanisms of development and nervous system function. C. elegans provides numerous experimental advantages for such studies. These advantages include a short life cycle, production of large numbers of offspring, easy and inexpensive laboratory culture, forward and reverse genetic tractability, and a relatively simple anatomy. This chapter will provide a brief overview of C. elegans biology.