C. elegans IRES?

Model Organism: Worms Methods & Reagents
1

Does anyone know of an internal ribosomal entry site (IRES) sequence that works in C. elegans?

I am aware of this paper http://www.biotechniques.com/BiotechniquesJournal/2012/March/Construction-of-a-bicistronic-vector-for-the-co-expression-of-two-genes-in-Caenorhabditis-elegans-using-a-newly-identified-IRES/biotechniques-327417.html,
but would be interested to know if anyone has used this successfully, or if anyone knows of another validated worm IRES.

I know that the more “traditional” way to get two ORFs expressed off the same promoter is to use a gpd-2 operon linker, but for my purposes it is important that the two ORFs remain part of the same mRNA molecule (rather than being processed into separate messages as is the case with SL2 splicing).

Thanks for any suggestions!

2

Have you seen Ahier and Jarriault’s forthcoming Genetics paper using viral 2A peptides?

3

Yes, that’s a very nice paper and might be a possibility… But I really want to use a genuine IRES if possible, to avoid adding any extra amino acids to the proteins in question.