GENETIC ANALYSIS OF MORPHOGENESIS IN A NEMATODE

这项研究解决了一个问题，即一个人的基因如何 多细胞生物体规定的发展和最终形式 有机体。这个问题是通过关注 发育的遗传基础特定的、明确的、 土壤线虫的可支配结构 优雅女装。将在交配过程中研究的结构 成年雄性尾巴的器官。这一结构包括164名男性- 由胚胎后分裂产生的特定细胞 前体细胞。将确定决定这两个因素的基因 雄性尾部特异细胞的产生和协调 这些细胞分化成最终的成体结构。 将通过分离具有异常男性的突变体来鉴定基因 反面(单抗突变体)。突变分离将通过以下方式完成 用解剖显微镜筛选诱变菌种。 突变将被放入互补组并进行映射 关于已知的基因。突变的表型将被分析 用复合显微镜进行了详细的观察。突变尤其是 寻求影响一组特别容易观察到的子谱系 在尾巴里。这些亚系负责生产 被称为射线的重复结构。电子显微镜， 将使用免疫细胞化学和激光消融技术 以确定另一个突出的结构，即风扇，是否 也是这些次级分类的产物。影响风扇的突变 射线将在细胞谱系的水平上进行分析。我们的目标是 以确定在射线亚系中指定细胞命运的基因。 无障碍模型系统正常发展的基础研究， 如这里所描述的，将有助于理解 扰乱了发育和肿瘤疾病的进程。

This research addresses the question of how the genes of a multicellular organism specify the development and final form of the organism. This question is addressed by focusing on the genetic basis of the development of a specific, well-defined, dispensible structure in the soil roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans. The structure that will be studied in the copulatory organ of the adult male tail. This structure comprises 164 male- specific cells that arise by post-embryonic divisions of 12 precursor cells. Genes will be identified that determine both the production of the male tail-specific cells and the coordinated differentiation of those cells into the final adult structure. Genes will be identified by isolating mutants with abnormal male tails (mab mutants). Mutant isolation will be accomplished by screening mutagenized cultures with the dissecting microscope. Mutations will be placed into complementation groups and mapped with respect to known genes. Mutant phenotypes will be analyzed in detail with the compound microscope. Mutations are especially sought that affect a particular set of easily-observed sublineages within the tail. These sublineages are responsible for producing repetitive structures called rays. Electron microscopic, immunocytochemical, and laser ablation techniques will be used to determine whether another prominent structure, the fan, is also a product of these sublineages. Mutations that affect the fan and rays will be analyzed at the level of cell lineage. The aim is to identify genes that specify cell fates in the ray sublineages. Basic studies of normal development in accessible model systems, such as those described here, will aid in the understanding of disrupted processes in developmental and neoplastic diseases.