C. elegans essential genes

我的实验室研究一种叫做秀丽隐杆线虫（线虫）的模式生物。 这是一个小的精英群体的有机体已被科学家选择为“模型”，也就是说，替代品的其他动物。 它们（酵母、果蝇、线虫、斑马鱼和小鼠）都是由世界各地数百个（如果不是数千个）实验室进行密集研究的。 它们各自具有的特性使它们对于研究各种复杂程度的生物现象特别有价值。 C.雅利安是最近进入这个精英群体的。 它具有短的世代时间（3.5天），大量的后代（约300），是透明的，有一个完整的测序基因组，并有一个最好的生物数据库整理遗传，分子和基因组数据。C.秀丽线虫也是一种复杂的生物体，具有许多细胞类型，具有多节肠、皮肤（皮下组织）、结构神经系统、排泄系统和复杂的性腺。 我的研究主要集中在高等生物的遗传信息结构，特别是生产生物生存所必需的产品的基因的性质和位置。 C.拥有全基因组测序（1998年完成）的秀丽线虫是解决这类问题的绝佳生物。 生物体的遗传计划包含大约20，000个可识别的基因。 我的实验室专注于在实验室条件下生存和有效繁殖所需的子集。 C.有2,500多个必需基因。线虫（与果蝇和小鼠的数量相似）。 我的实验室已经在500多个这些必需基因中发现了突变变体（导致可检测变化的突变）。 这些已经成为生物学各个方面的非常丰富的信息来源。 我们的基本基因突变导致了细胞增殖控制，细胞间信号传导，能量代谢和基因调控等方面的发现。 在这项资助中，我建议继续我们的工作，使用最先进的分子基因组方法，包括整个遗传信息内容的DNA测序的基本基因发现。

My laboratory works with a model organism called Caenorhabditis elegans (the nematode). It is in a small elite group of organisms that have been chosen by scientists as "models", that is to say surrogates for other animals. They (yeast, the fruit fly, the nematode, zebrafish, and the mouse) are all intensively worked on by hundreds, if not thousands of laboratories around the world. They each have properties that make them particularly valuable for investigating biological phenomena at various levels of complexity. C. elegans is the most recent entry into this elite group. It has a short generation time (3.5 days), numerous progeny (about 300), is transparent, has an entirely sequenced genome, and has one of the best organismal databases for collating genetic, molecular, and genomic data. C. elegans is also a complex organism with many cell types, having a multi-sectional gut, skin (hypoderm), structured nervous system, excretory system, and complex gonad. My research has focused on the structure of genetic information in higher organisms and specifically the nature and location of genes that produce products that are essential for survival of the organism. C. elegans, with its fully sequenced genome (completed in 1998), is an excellent organism to use when working on this type of problem. The genetic plan of the organism contains about 20,000 recognizable genes. My laboratory has focused on the subset that are required for survival and efficient reproduction, under laboratory conditions. There are more than 2,500 essential genes in C. elegans (similar number to the fruit fly and mouse). My lab has identified mutational variants (mutations that cause detectable changes) in over 500 of these essential genes. These have been a very rich source of information for a variety of aspects of biology. Our essential gene mutations have lead to discoveries in the control of cell proliferation, the nature of cell-cell signaling, energy metabolism, and gene regulation, to name a few. In this grant, I propose to continue our work on essential gene discovery using state of the art molecular genomic approaches, including DNA sequencing of the entire genetic information content.