Engineering new balancer chromosomes in C. elegans via CRISPR/Cas9

Engineering new balancer chromosomes in C. elegans via CRISPR/Cas9

Balancer chromosomes are convenient tools used to maintain lethal mutations in heterozygotes. We established a method for engineering new balancers in C. elegans by using the CRISPR/Cas9 system in a non-homologous end-joining mutant. Our studies will make it easier for researchers to maintain lethal mutations and should provide a path for the development of a system that generates rearrangement...

GFP-tagged balancer chromosomes for Drosophila melanogaster

We constructed green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing balancer chromosomes for each of the three major chromosomes of Drosophila melanogaster. Expression of GFP in these chromosomes is driven indirectly by a Kruppel (Kr) promoter, via the yeast GAL4-UAS regulatory system. GFP fluorescence can be seen in embryos as early as the germ band extension stage, and can also be seen in larvae, pupae...

Engineering new synaptic connections in the C. elegans connectome

Most of what we currently know about how neural circuits work we owe to methods based on the electrical or optical recording of neural activity. This is changing dramatically. First, the advent of optogenetic techinques has enabled precise manipulation of the activity of specific neurons. Second, the development of super-resolution methods for obtaining detailed maps of synaptic connectivity ha...

Simplified Insertion of Transgenes Onto Balancer Chromosomes via Recombinase-Mediated Cassette Exchange

Balancer chromosomes are critical tools for Drosophila genetics. Many useful transgenes are inserted onto balancers using a random and inefficient process. Here we describe balancer chromosomes that can be directly targeted with transgenes of interest via recombinase-mediated cassette exchange (RMCE).

Epigenetic Regulation of the X Chromosomes in C. elegans