F10 Biol 322
WormBase: From Phenotype to Gene
DUE Monday Nov1 at beginning of lecture
Goals of exercises:
• Exploring online model organism resources
• Connecting the dots between genotype and phenotype
Pick one of these C.elegans genes: unc-32, unc-5, dpy-11, or him-8. Then use WormBase to
help you discover the (often complicated) relationship between genotype and phenotype. You
can choose a gene not on this list, but there must be sufficient information available about the
function of the protein to complete this exercise.
Go to: http://www.wormbase.org/
Choose Any Gene
Type in gene name and carefully examine the Gene Summary Page
Don’t overlook the [details link].
Note transcript and protein info
1
In Location, copy or drag the white box showing exon/intron structure to your
desktop
In “Location” section, click on genomic position
Copy or drag the blue Overview to your desktop
2
Scroll down and find Homology
To Hand in no later than Monday Nov1 at beginning of lecture
From WormBase gene summary page:
1. Length of gene
2. Length of longest mature (spliced) transcript
3. Length of longest protein product
4. Exon-intro diagram of gene structure (from above).
Be sure to explain what k means and to label exons and introns
5. Genetic map (from above). What does M mean?
6. Look up the meaning of Homology and Orthologs. State the definition of Ortholog. For
your gene, indicate whether orthologs are found in the Yeast, the Fly andor the Man.
NOTE: absolutely do not attached printouts of the web site info.
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