Worm Breeder's Gazette 13(5): 88 (February 1, 1995)
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.
Depts of Pure and Applied Biology and Genetics, University of Leeds, U.K. We have undertaken a pilot project to determine developmental expression patterns for predicted genes of the genome sequencing project (WBG 12:4 pg.19). 11 cosmids, covering 400kb of chromosome III and containing 104 predicted genes, have been the subject of our screen so far. Upstream regions of predicted genes have been fused to a lacZ reporter using Andy Fire's vectors. 71 (68%) genes in this region are amenable to the directional subcloning approach employed. 35 genes have been completely assayed, 19 (54%) being found to have an observable and specific pattern of expression during development. The patterns observed have a wide tissue and stage distribution. The germline and early embryos (<30 cells) have failed to produce detectable beta-galactosidase activity, consistent with the generally appreciated limitation of the lacZ reporter system used. Patterns indicative of terminal differentiation products and of genes subject to developmental control during both embryonic and post-embryonic stages have been found. Because of the potential value of these data, most obviously as differentiation markers, we are endeavouring to place them in a publically accessible and searchable form. Therefore, pattern information in the form of text descriptions and images has been made available on Leon Avery's C.elegans server on the World Wide Web (URL: http://eatworms.swmed.edu/Worms_labs/Hope/), and on ACeDB as text descriptions (accessible under the gene name). The genes for which pattern information is available are: B0303.1, B0303.12; ZK637.5, ZK637.8; ZK643.1, ZK643.2, ZK643.3, ZK643.5; R08D7.3, R08D7.5; F59B2.13; R107.1, R107.4; F54G8.2; ZC84.3(a + b); T23G5.5; C40H1.6; C38C10.1. Genes assayed for which no expression pattern was seen (for whatever reason) are: B0303.4, B0303.10, B0303.15; ZK637.3, ZK637.10; F59B2.2, F59B2.5, F59B2.9, F59B2.12; F54G8.1, F54G8.3, F54G8.5; T23G5.2, T23G5.6; C40H1.1; C38C10.4. We have recently expanded the lab and hope to significantly scale up the project in the near future. Cosmids for which analysis is in hand are: ZC21, F02A9, B0464, C02D5, C06E1, C13G5, F22B7, B0523, ZK370, K02D10, F54F2, ZK507, ZK512, M01A8, K01B6, K04H4, T26G10 and F54C8.