Week 4 Flashcards
What are criteria for being a model organism?
Size, number of eggs/embryos, accessibility, speed of development, genetics, misexpression of genes, ease of manipulation
What makes a good model?
Simple diploid genetics (eukaryotics), Rapid generation time, controlled genetic crosses, generation of mutants (forward and reverse approaches, genetic map, amenable to transformation, genome sequence
Is there a correlation between genome size and number of protein-coding genes?
There isnt a correlation between the two
What was key about coding for model organisms with respect to the human genome project?
Model organisms were sequenced as part of the human genome project allowing for testing of tools to increase size of genome sequenced
How easy is it to access model organisms genome?
Complete genome sequences are deposited in public databases, which are easily accessible
What are the advantages in microbes as model organsisms?
They have very short reproductive cycles- (20 mins doubling time in E.Coli)
They are easily grown
The large numbers produced facilitate the rapid identification of rare mutation
What is the genome size and number of genes for Escherichia coli?
4.5 Mbp
4,500 genes
What is the genome size and number of genes for Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Brewer’s Yeast)?
16 Mbp
6,200 genes
What is the benefit of using Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Brewer’s Yeast)?
Eukaryotic, haploid, so cellular things can be applied to all eukaryotes like humans
What is the E.coli long-term evolution experiment (LTEE)?
Since 1988 Richard Lenski and group have had 12 parallel and independant bacterial populations allowed to grow and multiply
What have been the current outcomes of the LTEE?
By 20,000 generations in all populations grew approximately 70% faster than the ancestral strain
Six of 12 have had developed defects in their ability to repair DNA
1 strain has evolved the ability to citarte positve metabolism (ability to use a new source of respiration energy)
What is the genome size and number of genes of Caenorhabditis elegans (Roundworm)?
100 Mbp
20,000 genes
What is the genome size and number of genes of Drosophila melanogaster?
180 Mbp
15,500 genes
What is the genome size and number of genes Mus musculus?
3000 Mbp
20,000-21,000 genes
What are the key characteritics of Zebrafish (Danvio rerio)?
Fast early development
Many eggs, develop outside mother
F and R genetic screens are possible
Requires significant resources though
What is important when working with vertebrates and cephlopods?
Pre-register the methods, justification and number of animals and it needs to be independantly reviewed for animals welfare and ethics
Can forward genetics be done of Zebrafish?
Yes
How can forward gentics be done on Zebrafish?
Induce recessive mutations (m) in the male germ line (eg EMS)
Breed for at least two generations until homozygous offspring are observed
Analyse phenotype and clone the gene
What is the method for forward genetics on Zebrafish?
Male sperm has been mutagenised and bred with wild-type female
F1 individuals need to be selected and isolated
Each F1 will be heterozygous for a unique set of mutations
Some may result in a characteristic in m/m homozygoutes
Subsequent generations will need to be analysed
For recessive mutations only a small proportion of the F3 progeny (1/16) will display a mutant phenotype
What is Glofish?
The first GM pets - transgenic Danio rerio expressing colour varients of GFP and RFP
When did human and mice genomes diverge?
Around 85 mya
How many synthetic blocks are in both human mice genomes?
Human and mouse genomes comprise around 180 ‘synthetic blocks’ (genenomic blocks that contain the same DNA)
What has been conserved in both human and mouse genomes?
Conserved protein coding
Conserved transcriptional control sequences
What are key features of embyronic stem (ES) cells?
Stem cells- undifferentiated, can continue to divide
ES cells derived from inner cell mass (ICM) of blastocyst
Can be maintained indefinitely in undifferentiated state
Can be re-injected into blastocoel cavity of normal embryo and reincorporated into inner cell mass
How do you get ES cells from mice?
They need to be surgically removed
What can be done with ES stem cells when removed from mice?
They can be grown on mass in a culture
What is the function of Neomycin?
It is used as a positive selection marker ie to identify when the transgene has been integrated into the genome
What is the function of ganciclovir?
It is a negative selection marker due to it being converted to a toxic DNA precursor by the HSV thymidine kinase protein
What is the difference between the alleles during targeted mutagenesis?
Only one of the two alleles is inactivated by this process, so the cells produced are heterozygous
What happens during Homologous recombination of ES cells carrying a knockin mutant?
Homologous recombination –> Gene-targeted insertion –> Mutation in gene X –> Cells are resistant to G-418 and ganciclover
What happens during Nonhomologous recombination of ES cells carrying a knockout mutant?
Nonhomologous recombination –> Random insertion –> No mutation in gene X –> Cells are resistant to G-418 but sensitive to ganciclovir
What is the first stage in generating mice with homozygous ‘knock outs’?
Inject ES cells into blastocoel cavity of early embryo
Surgically transfer embryoes into pseudopregnant female
What are the possible progeny of the eggs injected into females?
They are either black or have a chimeric colour
What happens to the chimeric coloured mice?
They are selected for crosses with wildtype black mice, this may result in heterozygous offspring. This will onlu happen if transgenic ES cells contribute to the germ line
What are the percentage of brown mice will contain the transgene?
Only 50%
How can you tell which 50% contain transgene?
Molecular screening to identify X-/X+ heterozygotes using PCR
What do you do with the X-/X+ heterozygotes?
They are mated with other heterozygotes
What are the percentage of the He x He are homozygotes recessive?
25% which can screened using PCR
What is the ecological breakdown Drosophila melanogaster?
Order- Diptera
Family- Drosophilidae
Genus- Sopophora (Not Drosophila)
What is the relationship between Drosophila and Humans?
It has a commensal relationship with humans