Dual Recombining-out System for Spatiotemporal Gene Expression in C. elegans
Ming-Hai Ge,
Wei Wang,
Tai-Hong Wu,
Xin Wen,
Umar Al-Sheikh,
Li-Li Chen,
Sheng-Wu Yin,
Jing-Jing Wu,
Jia-Hao Huang,
Qing-Qin He,
Hui Liu,
Rong Li,
Ping-Zhou Wang,
Zheng-Xing Wu
Affiliations
Ming-Hai Ge
Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, Institute of Biophysics and Biochemistry, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Wei Wang
Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, Institute of Biophysics and Biochemistry, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Tai-Hong Wu
Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, Institute of Biophysics and Biochemistry, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Xin Wen
Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, Institute of Biophysics and Biochemistry, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Umar Al-Sheikh
Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, Institute of Biophysics and Biochemistry, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Li-Li Chen
Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, Institute of Biophysics and Biochemistry, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Sheng-Wu Yin
Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, Institute of Biophysics and Biochemistry, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Jing-Jing Wu
Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, Institute of Biophysics and Biochemistry, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Jia-Hao Huang
Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, Institute of Biophysics and Biochemistry, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Qing-Qin He
Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, Institute of Biophysics and Biochemistry, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Hui Liu
Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, Institute of Biophysics and Biochemistry, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Rong Li
Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, Institute of Biophysics and Biochemistry, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Ping-Zhou Wang
Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, Institute of Biophysics and Biochemistry, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Zheng-Xing Wu
Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, Institute of Biophysics and Biochemistry, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China; Corresponding author
Summary: Specific recording, labeling, and spatiotemporal manipulating neurons are essential for neuroscience research. In this study, we developed a tripartite spatiotemporal gene induction system in C. elegans, which is based on the knockout of two transcriptional terminators (stops in short) by two different recombinases FLP and CRE. The recombinase sites (loxP and FRT) flanked stops after a ubiquitous promoter terminate transcription of target genes. FLP and CRE, induced by two promoters of overlapping expression, remove the stops (subsequent FLP/CRE-out). The system provides an ''AND'' gate strategy for specific gene expression in single types of cell(s). Combined with an inducible promoter or element, the system can control the spatiotemporal expression of genes in defined cell types, especially in cells or tissues lacking a specific promoter. This tripartite FLP/CRE-out gene expression system is a simple, labor- and cost-saving toolbox for cell type-specific and inducible gene expression in C. elegans.
