Back to Search
Start Over
Assessment of X Chromosome Dosage Compensation in Caenorhabditis elegans by Phenotypic Analysis of lin-14
- Source :
- Genetics. 117:657-670
- Publication Year :
- 1987
- Publisher :
- Oxford University Press (OUP), 1987.
-
Abstract
- Caenorhabditis elegans compensates for the difference in X chromosome gene dose between males (XO) and hermaphrodites (XX) through a mechanism that equalizes the levels of X-specific mRNA transcripts between the two sexes. We have devised a sensitive and quantitative genetic assay to measure perturbations in X chromosome gene expression caused by mutations that affect this process of dosage compensation. The assay is based on quantitating the precocious alae phenotype caused by a mutation that reduces but does not eliminate the function of the X-linked gene lin-14. We demonstrate that in diploid animals the lin-14 gene is dosage compensated between XO and XX animals. In XXX diploid animals, however, lin-14 expression is not compensated, implying that the normal dosage compensation mechanism in C. elegans lacks the capacity to compensate completely for the additional X chromosome in triplex animals. Using the lin-14 assay we compare the effects of mutations in the genes dpy-21, dpy-26, dpy-27, dpy-28, and dpy-22 on X-linked gene expression. Additionally, in the case of dpy-21 we correlate the change in phenotypic expression of lin-14 with a corresponding change in the lin-14 mRNA transcript level.
Details
- ISSN :
- 19432631
- Volume :
- 117
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Genetics
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....0b5889fc40ae6e2668526b324786557e
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1093/genetics/117.4.657