Skip to main content
PMC home page
Genetics logoLink to Genetics
. 1985 Jan;109(1):67–79. doi: 10.1093/genetics/109.1.67

The Gene Structures of Spontaneous Mutations Affecting a CAENORHABDITIS ELEGANS Myosin Heavy Chain Gene

David Eide 1, Philip Anderson 1
PMCID: PMC1202484  PMID: 2981757

Abstract

We have isolated spontaneous mutations affecting the unc-54 major myosin heavy chain gene of Caenorhabditis elegans (variety Bristol). Spontaneous unc-54 mutants occur in C. elegans populations at a frequency of approximately 3 x 10-7. We have studied the gene structure of 65 independent unc-54 mutations using filter-transfer hybridization techniques. Most unc-54 mutations (50 of 65) exhibit no abnormalities detected with these techniques; these mutations are small lesions affecting less than 100 base pairs. Approximately 17% of the mutations (11 of 65) are simple deletions, ranging in size from less than 100 base pairs to greater than 17 kilobases. One isolate contains two separate deletions, each of which affects unc-54. Two mutants contain tandem genetic duplications that include a portion of unc-54 and extend 8–10 kilobases beyond the 5' terminus of the mRNA. Conspicuously absent from our collection of spontaneous unc-54 mutations are any resulting from insertion of transposable genetic elements. Such mutants, if they occur, must arise at a frequency of less than 5 x 10-9

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (2.3 MB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Copeland N. G., Hutchison K. W., Jenkins N. A. Excision of the DBA ecotropic provirus in dilute coat-color revertants of mice occurs by homologous recombination involving the viral LTRs. Cell. 1983 Jun;33(2):379–387. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90419-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Cullen B. R., Lomedico P. T., Ju G. Transcriptional interference in avian retroviruses--implications for the promoter insertion model of leukaemogenesis. Nature. 1984 Jan 19;307(5948):241–245. doi: 10.1038/307241a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Hohn B. In vitro packaging of lambda and cosmid DNA. Methods Enzymol. 1979;68:299–309. doi: 10.1016/0076-6879(79)68021-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Inman R. B., Schnös M. Partial denaturation of thymine- and 5-bromouracil-containing lambda DNA in alkali. J Mol Biol. 1970 Apr 14;49(1):93–98. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(70)90378-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Jaskunas S. R., Lindahl L., Nomura M. Isolation of polar insertion mutants and the direction of transcription of ribosomal protein genes in E. coli. Nature. 1975 Jul 17;256(5514):183–187. doi: 10.1038/256183a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Jenkins N. A., Copeland N. G., Taylor B. A., Lee B. K. Dilute (d) coat colour mutation of DBA/2J mice is associated with the site of integration of an ecotropic MuLV genome. Nature. 1981 Oct 1;293(5831):370–374. doi: 10.1038/293370a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Kleckner N. Transposable elements in prokaryotes. Annu Rev Genet. 1981;15:341–404. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ge.15.120181.002013. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kuff E. L., Feenstra A., Lueders K., Smith L., Hawley R., Hozumi N., Shulman M. Intracisternal A-particle genes as movable elements in the mouse genome. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Apr;80(7):1992–1996. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.7.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Liao L. W., Rosenzweig B., Hirsh D. Analysis of a transposable element in Caenorhabditis elegans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Jun;80(12):3585–3589. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.12.3585. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. MacLeod A. R., Karn J., Brenner S. Molecular analysis of the unc-54 myosin heavy-chain gene of Caenorhabditis elegans. Nature. 1981 Jun 4;291(5814):386–390. doi: 10.1038/291386a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. MacLeod A. R., Waterston R. H., Fishpool R. M., Brenner S. Identification of the structural gene for a myosin heavy-chain in Caenorhabditis elegans. J Mol Biol. 1977 Jul;114(1):133–140. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(77)90287-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Mackenzie J. M., Jr, Schachat F., Epstein H. F. Immunocytochemical localization of two myosins within the same muslce cells in Caenorhabditis elegans. Cell. 1978 Oct;15(2):413–419. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(78)90010-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Maniatis T., Jeffrey A., Kleid D. G. Nucleotide sequence of the rightward operator of phage lambda. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1975 Mar;72(3):1184–1188. doi: 10.1073/pnas.72.3.1184. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. O'Hare K., Rubin G. M. Structures of P transposable elements and their sites of insertion and excision in the Drosophila melanogaster genome. Cell. 1983 Aug;34(1):25–35. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90133-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Schnieke A., Harbers K., Jaenisch R. Embryonic lethal mutation in mice induced by retrovirus insertion into the alpha 1(I) collagen gene. 1983 Jul 28-Aug 3Nature. 304(5924):315–320. doi: 10.1038/304315a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Scott M. P., Weiner A. J., Hazelrigg T. I., Polisky B. A., Pirrotta V., Scalenghe F., Kaufman T. C. The molecular organization of the Antennapedia locus of Drosophila. Cell. 1983 Dec;35(3 Pt 2):763–776. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90109-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Slightom J. L., Blechl A. E., Smithies O. Human fetal G gamma- and A gamma-globin genes: complete nucleotide sequences suggest that DNA can be exchanged between these duplicated genes. Cell. 1980 Oct;21(3):627–638. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(80)90426-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Southern E. M. Detection of specific sequences among DNA fragments separated by gel electrophoresis. J Mol Biol. 1975 Nov 5;98(3):503–517. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(75)80083-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Sturtevant A H. The Effects of Unequal Crossing over at the Bar Locus in Drosophila. Genetics. 1925 Mar;10(2):117–147. doi: 10.1093/genetics/10.2.117. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Sulston J. E., Brenner S. The DNA of Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics. 1974 May;77(1):95–104. doi: 10.1093/genetics/77.1.95. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Wieslander L. A simple method to recover intact high molecular weight RNA and DNA after electrophoretic separation in low gelling temperature agarose gels. Anal Biochem. 1979 Oct 1;98(2):305–309. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(79)90145-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Genetics are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES