Description
Genetic pathway analyses has been an important realm in C. elegans research with the canonical strain Bristol N2 as the main carrier of these investigations. However, Bristol N2 is not alone anymore. Over the past decade and a half we have witnessed a spectacular rise in worm studies from different labs going beyond N2 by embracing the concept of genetic variation. One of the main messages coming out from these studies is that mutations in pathways seldom yield consistent phenotypes across the richness of strain diversity. Mutant phenotypes in Bristol N2 are a small blip in the phenotypic spectrum of natural variation. This implies that phenotypic effects of mutations and pathways are affected by natural genetic modifiers. I will illustrate the value of finding the natural genetic modifiers of mutations based on gene mapping across different strains affecting genetic pathways. But finding modifier genes is the tip of the iceberg. We have investigated the full genetic architecture of phenotypes and examples will be given for the let-60 Ras pathway. This allows for detection of modifier genes that would not have been detected using mutant screens in Bristol N2. Finally, I will explore how diversity between strains in combination with transcriptome profiling can be used to analyse complex perturbations resulting from environmental transitions.| Period | 14 Jun 2018 |
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| Event title | EMBO Workshop: C. elegans Development, Cell Biology, and Gene Expression |
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Barcelona, SpainShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |