Strain names for non-C. elegans species Scott W. Emmonst, Armand Leroit, and David Fitch, Department of Molecular Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Ave., Bronx, NY 10461, Department of Biology, New York University, RmlOO9 Main Bldg., Washington Square, New York, NY 10003
lin-36, a Class B Synthetic Multivulva Gene, Encodes a Novel Protein Jeffrey H. Thomas and H. Robert Horvitz, HHMI, Dept. Biology, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
Cytology of degenerin-induced cell death in the PVM neuron David H. Hall, Guoqiang Gu+, Lei Gong#, Monica Driscoll#, and Martin Chalfie+, * Dept. Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, N.Y. 10461 + Dept. Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, N.Y. 10027 # Dept. Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Rutgers University, Piscataway, N.J. 08855
DIFFERENTIAL EFFECTS OF DAUER-DEFECTIVE MUTATIONS ON L1- SPECIFIC SURFACE ANTIGEN SWITCHING. David G. Grenache and Samuel M. Politz, Department of Biology and Biotechnology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA.
In response to the growing interest in worms related to C. elegans for comparative studies, we are coordinating an effort to collect a comprehensive array of cryopreservable species belonging to the order Rhabditida. This collection would be maintained at the Caenorhabditis Genetics Center, would be freely available to all interested scientists, and would provide an excellent resource for worm breeders who are interested in applying a broader phylogenetic viewpoint to comparative biological investigations. Of course, an important advantage of a universally accepted canonical set of living type species is that species identifications can be tested biologically through cross-mating experiments. The utility of such a collection has already been demonstrated in the Drosophila system a remarkable collection of species from around the world is maintained, for example, at the Bowling Green Stock Center in Ohio. We request that interested parties please send their wild isolates to David Fitch, Lynn Carta or Kelley Thomas, along with the following data: the date, source and method of isolation, any ecological information concerning the isolate, pertinent literature references, the names and addresses of the collector, the depositor and the taxonomist(1), and any specifics about stock maintenance. Other data about the species should also be included, such as measurements(2) and male tail characteristics. Scale illustrations and any anatomical, developmental, cytogenetic or molecular data are greatly appreciated. If the isolate is hermaphroditic, males should also be provided, since most of the morphological characters used in species identifications are associated with males. Males may occur spontaneously or can be induced by heat-shocking L4 or young adult hermaphrodites (usually, but not always, at 30 C for 6 hours). Males obtained in this way can be mated to hermaphrodites to maintain a stock containing males. Kelley will provide a molecular "identification tag". David and Lynn will determine if the species has been previously identified in the literature and serve as liaisons to nematologists with taxonomic expertise to help verify the species identification. We will then deposit the species with the CGC. Eventually, we hope to make all of the information associated with each species in the collection available in a database. (See the abstract by Fitch et al. in this issue for the latest information on current CGC species depositions). So hesitate not to share your pet species with us! We think that the effort in building a phylogenetically broad and comprehensive live collection of Rhabditida will be more than compensated by the valuable opportunities it will provide for developing novel approaches to many areas of nematode research.
TWO TROPOMYOSINS EXPRBSSBD IN BODY WALL AND THE THIRD DID IN PHARYNX OF CAENORHABDDITIS ELEGANS. H. Imadzu, Y. Sakube and H. gagawa. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Okayama University, Okayama, 700 Japan.
A molecular approach to identify skn-1-responsive genes in the early C. elegans embryo. Stephen H. Chamberlain and Bruce Bowerman, Institute of Molecular Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403
FROM ASCARIS TO C. ELEGANS: A WAY TO STUDY GENE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION Huang Y-J., Tobler H. and Muller F., Institute of Zoology, University of Pribourg, Perolles, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland