Silence is golden: combining RNAi and live cell imaging to study cell cycle regulatory genes during Caenorhabditis elegans development.
Much of the pioneering work on the genetics of cell cycle regulation was accomplished using budding and fission yeast. The relative simplicity of these single-celled organisms allowed investigators to readily identify and assign roles to individual genes. While the molecular mechanisms worked out in yeast are more or less identical to those operating in higher organisms, additional layers of control must exist in multicellular organisms to coordinate the timing of developmental events occurring in different cells and tissues. Here we discuss experimental approaches for studying cell cycle processes in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.
Golden
Andy
A
Laboratory of Biochemistry and Genetics, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 8 Center Dr. Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. andyg@mail.nih.gov
O'Connell
Kevin F
KF
D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology / Q000254:growth & development*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D020868:Gene Silencing / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D018816:Genes, cdc / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D009865:Oocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development*; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000494:pharmacology*
D034741:RNA, Small Interfering