Transgenesis in C. elegans - Caenorhabditis Elegans: Molecular Genetics and Development - page 168

Table III
Mosaic analysis of gene function

Technique Applications Considerations References

Loss of extrachromosomal
arrays

Permits expression of gene in a
lineage-specific manner.
When introduced into a
mutant background, permits
analysis of lineage-specific
presence or loss of gene
activity

Marker may not always correlate
with gene activity.
Expression levels of gene
altered due to silencing,
overexpression, or
perdurance of gene product.
Lineage analysis can be difficult
and may not be specific
enough to limit expression to
a small number of tissues

Hedgecock and
Herman (1995);
Lackner et al.
(1994); Miller
et al. (1996);
Yochem and
Herman (2005)

Expression of gene under control
of tissue-specific promoters

Permits expression of genes in a
very specific set of tissues,
cells, or developmental
stages

Limited by availability of specific,
well-characterized promoters.
Use of non-native regulatory
elements may produce
inappropriate levels of gene
product.
Requires a new construct for each
gene of interest

Addition of long 3 0 UTR that
alters gene product stability

Permits temperature-sensitive
regulation of gene
expression

Some background gene
expression in the off state.
Requires work in a nonsense-
mediate decay mutant
background

FLP-recombinase gene
activation

Sensitive spatial and temporal
control of gene expression.
Allows for use of endogenous
promoters and other
regulatory elements in gene
of interest.
Creates a set of strains that can be
used with different constructs

Change in gene expression due
to FLP activation is not
reversible.
Time delay associated with FLP
expression and
recombination

Davis et al. (2008);
Voutev and
Hubbard (2008)

Controlled expression of heat-
shock sensitivity

Sensitive spatial and temporal
control of gene expression.
Relatively rapid changes in
gene expression levels.
Creates a set of strains that can
be used with different
constructs.

Need to work in hsf-1(lof)
background.
Use of non-native regulatory
elements may produce
inappropriate levels of gene
product.
Heat-shock response does not
allow for sustained gene
expression

Reconstituting gene activity
from two components

Sensitive spatial and temporal
control of gene expression.
Used for cell-specific labeling
and killing of cells.
Sets of strains can be combined
in different ways

Limited to genes or processes
that can be reconstituted
from two components

Chelur and Chalfie
(2007); Zhang
et al. (2008)

(Continued)