Brightest GFP expressed in C. Elegans

Model Organism: Worms Methods & Reagents
1

Hello Wormbase,
Our lab is looking to study the interaction between A. Oligospora and C. Elegans. We were hoping to purchase a strain of C. Elegans that was essentially wild-type except for the GFP tag.
We want the protein to be as expressed in as many areas as possible. We found this as a likely candidate at the University of Minnesota http://www.cgc.cbs.umn.edu/strain.php?id=10867 .
We want to try with a few more strains if possible.

Thanks in advance!

2 
          I use some very bright integrated GFP strains in an undergraduate lab class, including:

            NW1229 ([i]gef-1[/i]) GFP in the nervous system
            PS4657 ([i]ajm-1[/i]) GFP at epithelial junctions
            SJ4103 ([i]myo-3[/i]) GFP in muscle (has mitochondrial localization signal)
                 (bright muscle, but slightly slow development & decreased brood size)

         All are available from the CGC.
          If you learn of more, please let me know! 
                  Janet Duerr, Ohio University
3

Hi,

Does it have to be a GFP-producing strain?

If it is simply visualisation, couldn’t you just use FITC labelling? It’s bright enough, lasts a long time and uses the same filter combination as for GFP fluorescence detection.

Check ou this link, searching for ‘FITC’:

http://www.wormatlas.org/ver1/Perkins_1986/results.html

Steve

4

Thank you so much! We ordered a couple strains and I will report back with what is the brightest.

Steve, is this easily visible to the naked eye?

Thanks

5

Er, as you have no doubt realised, both Arthrobotrys and C. elegans are quite small otherwise C. elegans would escape all the time…you need a microscope :o

Or have you a particularly cunning plan that removes the necessity to get up close?

No, (as Moriarty said) you can’t see the fluorescence with the naked eye and even if you could how would that help?

Steve

6

could be wrong here watson :), but i think perhaps this person means without putting a ccd camera on the dissecting scope.

on the other hand, if you had a big pellet of worms then visualization of fluorescence by naked eye would be a real possibility.

7

ah, ok when ‘vooskie’ means without a camera, then of course you can see the Worms with a suitable filter/Illumination rig (and they’re easy to set up and cheap nowadays to buy) on your dissecting 'scope.

As to the big pellet of worms…fair enough you might see it glow…but then it would be back to the mundane task of actually doing something useful with this pellet…or were you thinking back Eric to the times when those of us of a particular age used to sit around the Lavalamp at parties? 8)