Genome Editing in C. elegans and Other Nematode Species
1
PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Kawaguchi 332-0012, Japan
2
Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (WPI-iCeMS), Kyoto University, Yoshida-Honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
Academic Editor: Izuho Hatada
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2016, 17(3), 295; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms17030295
Received: 17 August 2015
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Revised: 21 December 2015
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Accepted: 15 February 2016
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Published: 26 February 2016
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genome Editing)
Caenorhabditis elegans, a 1 mm long free-living nematode, is a popular model animal that has been widely utilized for genetic investigations of various biological processes. Characteristic features that make C. elegans a powerful model of choice for eukaryotic genetic studies include its rapid life cycle (development from egg to adult in 3.5 days at 20 °C), well-annotated genome, simple morphology (comprising only 959 somatic cells in the hermaphrodite), and transparency (which facilitates non-invasive fluorescence observations). However, early approaches to introducing mutations in the C. elegans genome, such as chemical mutagenesis and imprecise excision of transposons, have required large-scale mutagenesis screens. To avoid this laborious and time-consuming procedure, genome editing technologies have been increasingly used in nematodes including C. briggsae and Pristionchus pacificus, thereby facilitating their genetic analyses. Here, I review the recent progress in genome editing technologies using zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcriptional activator-like nucleases (TALENs), and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 in nematodes and offer perspectives on their use in the future.
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Keywords:
nematode; C. elegans; transposon; TALEN; CRISPR/Cas9; cell-specific analysis
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MDPI and ACS Style
Sugi, T. Genome Editing in C. elegans and Other Nematode Species. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2016, 17, 295. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms17030295
AMA Style
Sugi T. Genome Editing in C. elegans and Other Nematode Species. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2016; 17(3):295. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms17030295
Chicago/Turabian StyleSugi, Takuma. 2016. "Genome Editing in C. elegans and Other Nematode Species" International Journal of Molecular Sciences 17, no. 3: 295. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms17030295
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