Chemical mutagenesis of unc-82 and other muscle-affecting genes in Caenorhabditis elegans

Abstract

Caenorhabditis elegans is a microscopic species of nematode that became a model organism for biological research in the 1970s The striated muscle cell within C. elegans is a highly ordered structure that contains actin and myosin filaments, anchoring structures, and regulatory proteins Uncoordinated (unc) mutations display phenotypes associated with hindered muscle structure unc-82 mutants display phenotypes such as slow movement and decreased presence and clumping of thick filaments at the ends of the muscle cells UNC-82 is a protein that is associated with myosin organization RW1596 strain of C. elegans contains a lethal myosin A mutation (myo-3) recovered by an extrachromosomal array of DNA called stEx30 One goal of the mutagenesis screen was to identify additional mutations in the unc-82 gene