title: Genome Editing in C. elegans and Other Nematode Species.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Kawaguchi 332-0012, Japan. tsugi@icems.kyoto-u.ac.jp.|Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (WPI-iCeMS), Kyoto University, Yoshida-Honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan. tsugi@icems.kyoto-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Takuma
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sugi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D064113:CRISPR-Cas Systems; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics*; D018390:Gene Targeting / Q000379:methods*; D049751:Genome, Helminth; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016335:Zinc Fingers
chemical_list: D014157:Transcription Factors
keywords: C. elegans; CRISPR/Cas9; TALEN; cell-specific analysis; nematode; transposon