TY - JOUR
T1 - Large-scale analysis of gene function in Caenorhabditis elegans by high-throughput RNAi
AU - Maeda, Ikuma
AU - Kohara, Yuji
AU - Yamamoto, Masayuki
AU - Sugimoto, Asako
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Tim Schedl for helpful discussion. We are grateful to Tadasu Shin-i for the clone data, to Yohei Minakuchi for preparing the figure, and to all technicians of the Kohara lab for preparing the clone set. This work was supported by grants from Japan Science and Technology Corporation (A. S. and Y. K.), and grants-in-aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas (A. S. and Y. K.) and for Specially Promoted Research (M. Y.) from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, and Culture of Japan.
PY - 2001/2/6
Y1 - 2001/2/6
N2 - Genome-wide analysis of gene function is essential for the post-genome era, and development of efficient and economical technology suitable for it has been in demand. Here we report a large-scale inactivation of the expressed genes in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. For this purpose, we have established a high-throughput "RNAi-by-soaking" methodology by modifying the conventional RNAi method [1, 2]. A set of tag-sequenced, nonredundant cDNAs corresponding to approximately 10,000 genes [3] (representing half of the predicted genes [4]) was used for the systematic RNAi analysis. We have processed approximately 2500 genes to date. In development, 27% of them showed detectable phenotypes, such as embryonic lethality, postembryonic lethality, sterility, and morphological abnormality. Of these, we analyzed the phenotypes of F1 sterility in detail, and we have identified 24 genes that might play important roles in germline development. Combined with the ongoing analysis of expression patterns of these cDNAs [3, 5], the functional information obtained in this work will provide a starting point for the further analysis of each gene. Another finding from this screening is that the incidence of essential genes is significantly lower in the X chromosome than in the autosomes.
AB - Genome-wide analysis of gene function is essential for the post-genome era, and development of efficient and economical technology suitable for it has been in demand. Here we report a large-scale inactivation of the expressed genes in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. For this purpose, we have established a high-throughput "RNAi-by-soaking" methodology by modifying the conventional RNAi method [1, 2]. A set of tag-sequenced, nonredundant cDNAs corresponding to approximately 10,000 genes [3] (representing half of the predicted genes [4]) was used for the systematic RNAi analysis. We have processed approximately 2500 genes to date. In development, 27% of them showed detectable phenotypes, such as embryonic lethality, postembryonic lethality, sterility, and morphological abnormality. Of these, we analyzed the phenotypes of F1 sterility in detail, and we have identified 24 genes that might play important roles in germline development. Combined with the ongoing analysis of expression patterns of these cDNAs [3, 5], the functional information obtained in this work will provide a starting point for the further analysis of each gene. Another finding from this screening is that the incidence of essential genes is significantly lower in the X chromosome than in the autosomes.
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U2 - 10.1016/S0960-9822(01)00052-5
DO - 10.1016/S0960-9822(01)00052-5
M3 - Article
C2 - 11231151
AN - SCOPUS:0035128859
VL - 11
SP - 171
EP - 176
JO - Current Biology
JF - Current Biology
SN - 0960-9822
IS - 3
ER -