Worm Breeder's Gazette 10(2): 139

These abstracts should not be cited in bibliographies. Material contained herein should be treated as personal communication and should be cited as such only with the consent of the author.

Strain Identification Using Mitochondria RFLD's

Karen Beckenbach, David Baillie and Ann Rose

We have investigated the possibility of using RFLD's (Restriction 
Fragment Length Differences) of a mtDNA fragment to distinguish the 
various C.  elegans strains.  Ann Rose's lab cloned the 5kb EcoRI 
restriction fragment (pCeh109) of the mitochondria DNA.  Total DNA 
from N2, BO, PA-2, GA-1, and N2(DR) was isolated, restricted, 
fractionated on an agarose gel, and transferred to nitrocellulose.  
The filter was then probed using [32p] labelled pCeh109.  The 
restriction enzymes we used were AccI, AluI, AvaII, DdeI, DraI, HaeIII,
HincII, HinfII, and RsaI.  Six of the nine enzymes used showed an 
RFLD that easily distinguished Pa2 from the others, and two showed a 
possible difference between N2 and BO.
Since PA-2 shows an RLFD with so many of the restriction enzymes, it 
is possible that the mtDNA of this strain has some sort of 
rearrangement.  The nature of these RLFD's and the ones between N2 and 
BO are currently being investigated.