GENETICALLY TARGETED CELL DISRUPTION IN CAENORHABDITIS-ELEGANS

The elimination of identified cells is a powerful tool for investigati ng development and system function. Here we report on genetically medi ated cell disruption effected by the toxic Caenorhabditis elegans mec- 4(d) allele, We found that ectopic expression of mec-4(d) in the nemat ode causes dysfunction of a wide range of nerve, muscle, and hypoderma l cells, mec-4(d)-mediated toxicity is dependent on the activity of a second gene, mec-6, rendering cell disruption conditionally dependent on genetic background. We describe a set of mec-4(d) vectors that faci litate construction of cell-specific disruption reagents and note that genetic cell disruption can be used for functional analyses of specif ic neurons or neuronal classes, for confirmation of neuronal circuitry , for generation of nematode populations lacking defined classes of fu nctional cells, and for genetic screens. We suggest that mec-4(d) and/ or related genes may be effective general tools for cell inactivation that could be used toward similar purposes in higher organisms.