Engineered non-Mendelian inheritance of entire parental genomes in C. elegans

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Judith Besseling - , Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry (Karl Friedrich Bonhoeffer Institute) (Author)
  • Henrik Bringmann - , Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry (Karl Friedrich Bonhoeffer Institute) (Author)

Abstract

The ability to rewrite the rules of genetic segregation would open new possibilities in diverse areas of biotechnology ranging from breeding to epigenetics. Here we engineer non-Mendelian inheritance of the entire maternal or paternal genome in Caenorhabditis elegans by changing the structure of the mitotic spindle during the first cell division of the zygote. Using germline-specific overexpression of a single protein, the conserved microtubule force regulator GPR-1, we increase forces that pull on spindle poles to convert the single bipolar mitotic spindle to two monopolar spindles. This generates two-cell embryos in which one cell contains only the maternal chromosomes and the other cell contains only the paternal chromosomes. As the embryo develops, each cell of the animal, including the germ cells, contains the genetic material of only one parent, resulting in hybrid F1 animals. Progeny of these animals (F2) inherit either only F0 maternal or only F0 paternal chromosomes, and thus descend from only either of their grandparents' gametes.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)982-986
Number of pages5
JournalNature biotechnology
Volume34
Issue number9
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2016
Peer-reviewedYes
Externally publishedYes

External IDs

Scopus 84986915930
ORCID /0000-0002-7689-8617/work/142236984

Keywords

Keywords

  • Animals, Caenorhabditis elegans/genetics, Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins/genetics, Chromosome Segregation/genetics, Female, Genetic Engineering/methods, Genome/genetics, Inheritance Patterns/genetics, Male, Mendelian Randomization Analysis/methods

Library keywords