Plenefisch JD et al. (1994) Worm Breeder's Gazette "Cloning mua-3: Some Observations on the New Molecular Era"

Plenefisch JD, Hedgecock EM

[Worm Breeder's Gazette, 1994]

Cloning mua-3: some observations on the new Molecular Era John Plenefisch and Edward Hedgecock, Dept. of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD 21218

Parham C et al. (1994) Worm Breeder's Gazette "Tc4 and Tc5: What Makes Them Move and Why It Matters"

Beinhorn J, Collins JJ, Butze K, Parham C

[Worm Breeder's Gazette, 1994]

Tc4 and Tc5: what makes them move and why it matters Christi Parham, Kristie Butze, Joanna Beinhorn and John Collins. Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of New Hampshire. Durham, NH 03824

Almeida CA et al. (1994) Worm Breeder's Gazette "Function of a Domain of the Myosin Heavy Chain Implicated in Familial Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy"

Collins JJ, Almeida CA, Swift KE

[Worm Breeder's Gazette, 1994]

Function of a Domain of the Myosin Heavy Chain Implicated in Familial Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Craig A. Almeida, Kerry E. Swift and John J. Collins Department of Biochemistry and Molecular, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03820

Maine EM et al. (1994) Worm Breeder's Gazette "Mutations That Enhance glp-1 Identify Genes Required For Various Aspects of Germline Development."

Gelber MB, Smardon AM, Shu P, Qiao L, Maine EM, Lissemore JL

[Worm Breeder's Gazette, 1994]

Mutations that enhance glp-1 identify genes required for various aspects of germline development. Eleanor Maine, Li Qiao, Jim Lissemore-, Pei Shu, Anne Smardon, and Melanie Gelber. Biology Dept., Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244 and Biology Dept., John Carroll University, Cleveland, OH 44118.

Kagawa H (1991) Worm Breeder's Gazette "C. elegans Scientists visit to Japan in 1990"

Kagawa H

[Worm Breeder's Gazette, 1991]

Ed Hedgecock came to Tokyo in January for the 2nd seminar on Molecular and Developmental Neurobiology and his cell migration work impressed scientists of other animal field. Sydney Brenner won the Kyoto Prize and came to Japan on 23 of October for receiving the Prize on his fourth visit in this year. He talked with his excellent joke about telescope in Astronomy and microscope in Biology. Sydney is the man who gave the main lecture in the First Meeting of Japan Molecular Biology Society. Iva Greenwald came to Japan for attending the Naito Foundation International Workshop on Morphogenesis Program in early November together with her fiance Gary Struhl. It is true that the relation between Drosophila and Caenorhabditis is very good in U.S. and Japan. Some nematode scientists in Japan got grant from Drosophila project. John Sulston gave the lecture entitled 'The Genome of Caenorhabditis' on 28th of November at the main invited lecture of the Thirteenth Meeting of Japan Molecular Biology Society in Kyoto International Congress Hall. The lecture impressed many Japanese scientists especially his 'The Logical Next Step: Genome Sequencing'. On the 27th night, 34 worm people assembled to the worm party for welcoming to him. Sixteen papers from five labs were presented at the meeting.

Meneely PM et al. (1976) Worm Breeder's Gazette

Herman RK, Meneely PM

[Worm Breeder's Gazette, 1976]

We sometimes want to pick spontaneous males in order to obtain males that, for example, are heterozygous for two closely linked markers in repulsion. If a few young adult hermaphrodites are shifted from their normal growth temperature of 20 C to 27.5 C for 36 hr and then back to 20 C, they will give about 5% male offspring of nearly normal fertility. Heat treatment has been used by others (Nigon, Brenner) to increase the spontaneous male frequency; but this trick may not be common knowledge, so we mention it here.

Kim JS et al. (1983) Worm Breeder's Gazette "gamma radiation-induced map expansion in C elegans."

Kim JS, Rose AM

[Worm Breeder's Gazette, 1983]

The genetic map of C. elegans shows clearly defined clusters of genes on the autosomes. Brenner (1974) suggested the possibility that these clusters might be produced by a lower frequency of recombination in a defined region of a chromosome. In D. melanogaster, treatment with ionizing radiation (and other factors) results in large increases in recombination frequency across centromeric regions primarily. These increases in recombination frequency have been termed 'radiation induced map expansion'. We have investigated the occurrence of radiation induced map expansion in C. elegans. Previously, some of the factors that alter recombination frequency in the dpy-5 of linkage group I were examined ( temperature, parental age, and rec-1, for example). Currently, we have investigated the effect of gamma radiation on recombination in this interval. We found that treatment with gamma increases: recombination frequency two to three-fold, nondisjunction eight-fold, and F1 sterility from 0 to 14%. We are further investigating the sensitivity of different meiotic stages. The existence of 'map expansion' in the dpy-5 which corresponds to the region of the cluster on linkage group I), implies that recombination in this region can occur more frequently than it does in control strains. One possibility is that recombination frequency in this region is 'normally' reduced (as proposed by Brenner). We are investigating this phenomena for other regions of linkage group I.

Greenwald IS (1984) Worm Breeder's Gazette "molecular cloning of lin-12."

Greenwald IS

[Worm Breeder's Gazette, 1984]

I have examined a total of eight independent lin-12 null mutations that arose spontaneously in a predominantly Bergerac genetic background. I probed genomic Southern blots with a 1.2 kb wild-type HindIII fragment that was defined by an insertion mutation (see last Newsletter) and/or with a cosmid 'contig' obtained from Alan Coulson and John Sulston that extends approximately 20 kb in each direction from the 1.2 kb HindIII fragment. The results thus far indicate that ( 1) seven of the eight mutations are associated with Tc1 insertions (2) the insertions are at different sites, and (3) all the insertion sites may lie within a single Pst fragment that is 2.8 kb in wild-type.

Rosenbluth RE et al. (1980) Worm Breeder's Gazette "unc-72 (e873) is associated with a crossover suppressor for LG III and LG V and is allelic to unc-36(III)."

Baillie DL, Rosenbluth RE

[Worm Breeder's Gazette, 1980]

As previously reported (Cold Spring Harbor, 1979), we found that unc- 72 (e873), which had originally been positioned close to dpy-11 ( BRENNER 1974), is a dominant crossover suppressor. We now report that the regions suppressed are to the right of unc-32(III), at least upto unc-64(III), and to the left of dpy-11(V), at least upto unc-60(V). We also found that unc-67 showed no linkage to dpy-18(III) but appeared to be linked to dpy-5(I). The above crossover suppression, therefore, covers the right and left respective arms of LG III and LG V upto the most distal known markers, in each case. Segregation patterns and egg survival data from e873 heterozygotes are consistent with e873 being a translocation. The translocation has been named eT1(III;V). The recessive Unc-72 phenotype exhibited by e873 is not complemented by e251, a mutation in the unc-36(III) gene. Consistent with this, Unc-72 and Unc-36 phenotype are very similar. Thus eT1(III;V) carries a defect in unc-36. The possibility that this defect may be due to one of the breaks, makes unc-36 the putative site of an LG III breakpoint. In view of the fact that e873 is a chromosomal aberration, it is of interest to note that it was isolated after P-decay (BRENNER 1974). We hope that the identification of the crossover suppression properties, and the unc-36 allelism of e873 will make it a useful tool for the future genetic analysis of C. elegans.

Rose AM et al. (1977) Worm Breeder's Gazette "X-ray induced dpy-5 mutations: recovery of putative deficiencies."

Rose AM, Baillie DL

[Worm Breeder's Gazette, 1977]

A series of dpy-5 mutations have been induced using gamma irradiation. WiId type (+/+) hermaphrodites were treated with 7500R and mated to heterozygous males. These males are wild type over a double mutant, for example ++/dpy-5 unc-13 or ++/dpy-5 unc-15. After 18 hours of mating individual hermaphrodites were placed on separate plates for 24 hours. WiId type progeny were removed and these plates were screened for exceptional 'dpy' individuals in the F1. Under these conditions four 'dpys' have been found. Two more were found by gamma irradiating +/+ males with 6500R and crossing to homozygous double mutants (dpy-5 y-5 , 000 wiId type male progeny screened, 6 hermaphrodite dpys were found, giving a forward mutation rate of 6/22,000 for the dpy-5 gene under the above conditions. This is within a factor of 2 of the EMS rate proposed by Brenner for any gene (Brenner, 1974). Each of these exceptional 'dpy's' have been tested as a putative deficiency. The two generated at 6500R behaved like point mutations in the dpy-5 gene. The four generated at 7500R segregate chromosomes which are homozygous lethal and have been named Df(I) dpy-5k2...k5. These appear to be affecting a lethal site as well as the dpy-5 gene. In none of these cases has lethal site successfully been separated from the dpy-5 site by recombination. The above data suggests k2...k5 may be X-ray induced deficiencies of the dpy-5 gene and surrounding region. Further evidence that these strains carry a deficiency in the dpy-5 region was derived from crosses between these lines. It is hoped that these deficiencies will provide a useful tool for the genetic analysis of this region. This work was supported by the National Research Council of Canada.