Explore New Methods To Study Gene Regulation In D-type Motor Neurons In C.Elegans

There are two classes of GABAergic D-type motor neurons(mns),DD ana VD mns,in C.elegans.One homeobox transcription factor gene unc-30 is the master control gene of D mns,while a nuclear receptor transcription factor gene unc-55 is responsible for the distinctions between DD and VD mns.The protein UNC-30 plays a sufficient role in opening a series of gene expression.In VD neurons,these two proteins UNC-30 and UNC-55 express at the same time.Because UNC-55 express in VD,the genes which UNC-30 open are inhibited by UNC-55.And UNC-55 does not express in DD,leading to the remolding of DD.To explore more details about the mechanism underneath the DD/VD difference,we try to find more coding and noncoding genes which function in the D mns.We inserted a GFP tag into the unc-30 and unc-55 coding region using CRISPR/Cas9 technology,and are performing ChIP to identify unc-30 and unc-55 targets genome wide.Non-coding RNA(ncRNA)is a kind of RNA which can not translated into protein but play important roles.Those genes which transcribe into non-coding RNA called RNA genes.The expression of thousands of genes are regμlated by non-coding RNAs.They may play their roles in trans or cis.Here,we also investigate whether there are some long non-coding RNAs express specifically in D-type motor neurons.Since the research of long non-coding RNA in C.elegans have no paper reports.We are now exploring some new methods to investigate the roles of these ncRNAs in the D mns of C.elegans.