[
Methods Cell Biol,
1995]
The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is a small, rapidly growing organism that can easily be raised in the laboratory on the bacterium Escherichia coli. Because C. elegans is a self-fertilizing hermaphrodite, it is possible to readily grow large quantities of the organism in swirling liquid cultures and also possible to propagate severely incapacitated mutants. The rapidity of growth and the ability to self-fertilize necessitate special measures to establish a synchronous culture.
Recombinant DNA technology has made it possible to clone receptors from many organisms by cross-hybridization or by the polymerase chain reaction. It may be difficult, though, to establish the functional importance of any clone obtained. We describe the cloning of nematode acetylcholine receptor genes by selection for resistance to levamisole, a scheme providing assurance that the clones obtained are functionally related...