Methods in cell biology

Abstract

Although C. elegans is primarily touted for its facile genetics, there has been a burgeoning interest in studying cell biological processes in this organism. Strong genetics (Brenner, 1974; Jorgensen and Mango, 2002), the development of fluorescent protein tags (Chalfie et al., 1994; Yang et al., 1996; Zhang et al., 2004), the availability of RNA interference strategies to disrupt gene function (Fire et al., 1998; Timmons and Fire, 1998), and the ability to perform studies on primary cultures of embryonic cells (Christensen et al., 2002; Zhang et al., 2002), have all led to an increase in the number of cell biological problems addressed in the worm. Furthermore, the transparency of the organism affords a unique opportunity to study the roles of cell biological processes in a living multicellular animal.