（1）線虫のゲノム解析について

抄録

Approximately 40% of protein-coding genes in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) are orthologous to human protein-coding genes, making this animal a useful model organism. The characteristics of this model organism include its simple structure, detailed basic biological description, and ease of culturing and freezing. In older years, researchers have used forward genetics to isolate mutants, examine their phenotypes, and clone the causal gene, revealing gene functions. By the end of the 20th century, researchers began to use various experimental techniques developed in the C. elegans community, including transgenic analyses by green fluorescent protein (GFP) expression and RNA interference, and this facilitated gene function analyses. These techniques are now used regularly in mammalian experiments. The C. elegans genome was sequenced for the first time as a multicellular organism, and the technologies used were then transferred to human genome sequencing.

We used C. elegans genome sequences and developed efficient techniques to isolate deletion mutants in a genome-wide manner using reverse genetics. We introduced deletions in the C. elegans genome by treating the animals with trimethylpsoralen (TMP) and ultraviolet light, and then screened for mutants using PCR. Next-generation sequencing was used to isolate the deletion mutants more efficiently. Current research has revealed that our laboratory has achieved a higher number and quality of deletion mutants than that of other laboratories worldwide. Furthermore, only our laboratory has effectively isolated deletion mutants for approximately half of the total genes. Through the National Bioresource Project funded by MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology), Japan, we have been distributing these deletion mutants to laboratories worldwide. Thus, in the past 20 years, gene function analyses of C. elegans have progressed notably. This information is useful for understanding the functions of human disease-causing genes. We hope that the knowledge gained from these activities will benefit research on the treatment of human diseases.