Quantitative gene expression analysis in Caenorhabditis elegans using single molecule RNA FISH.
- Resource Type
- Article
- Authors
- Bolková, Jitka; Lanctôt, Christian
- Source
- Methods. Apr2016, Vol. 98, p42-49. 8p.
- Subject
- *GENE expression
*FLUORESCENCE in situ hybridization
*SINGLE molecules
*FLUORESCENT probes
*CAENORHABDITIS elegans
- Language
- ISSN
- 1046-2023
Advances in fluorescent probe design and synthesis have allowed the uniform in situ labeling of individual RNA molecules. In a technique referred to as single molecule RNA FISH (smRNA FISH), the labeled RNA molecules can be imaged as diffraction-limited spots and counted using image analysis algorithms. Single RNA counting has provided valuable insights into the process of gene regulation. This microscopy-based method has often revealed a high cell-to-cell variability in expression levels, which has in turn led to a growing interest in investigating the biological significance of gene expression noise. Here we describe the application of the smRNA FISH technique to samples of Caenorhabditis elegans , a well-characterized model organism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]