Chapter 18: Problem 10
How can you determine whether a particular gene is being transcribed in different cell types?
Chapter 18: Problem 10
How can you determine whether a particular gene is being transcribed in different cell types?
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Get started for freeMuch of what we know about gene interactions in development has been learned using nematodes, yeast, flies, and bacteria. This is due, in part, to the relative ease of genetic manipulation of these well-characterized genomes. However, of great interest are gene interactions involving complex diseases in humans. Wang and White (2011. Nature Methods 8(4) \(341-346\) ) describe work using RNAi to examine the interactive proteome in mammalian cells. They mention that knockdown inefficiencies and off-target effects of introduced RNAi species are areas that need particular improvement if the methodology is to be fruitful. (a) How might one use RNAi to study developmental pathways? (b) Comment on how "knockdown inefficiencies" and "off-tar-get effects" would influence the interpretation of results.
The floral homeotic genes of Arabidopsis belong to the MADSbox gene family, while in Drosophila, homeotic genes belong to the homeobox gene family. In both Arabidopsis and Drosophila, members of the Polycomb gene family control expression of these divergent homeotic genes. How do Polycomb genes control expression of two very different sets of homeotic genes?
List the main classes of zygotic genes. What is the function of each class of these genes?
The identification and characterization of genes that control sex determination has been a focus of investigators working with \(C .\) elegans. As with Drosophila, sex in this organism is determined by the ratio of \(X\) chromosomes to sets of autosomes. A diploid wild-type male has one \(X\) chromosome and a diploid wild-type hermaphrodite has two X chromosomes. Many different mutations have been identified that affect sex determination. Loss- of-function mutations in a gene called her-1 cause an XO nematode to develop into a hermaphrodite and have no effect on \(\mathrm{XX}\) development. (That is, \(\mathrm{XX}\) nematodes are normal hermaphrodites.) In contrast, loss- offunction mutations in a gene called tra-I cause an XX nematode to develop into a male. Deduce the roles of these genes in wild-type sex determination from this information.
Experiments have shown that any nuclei placed in the polar cytoplasm at the posterior pole of the Drosophila egg will differentiate into germ cells. If polar cytoplasm is transplanted into the anterior end of the egg just after fertilization, what will happen to nuclei that migrate into this cytoplasm at the anterior pole?
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