查看文章

This chapter discusses assays for gene function in developing Xenopus embryos. The strategies discussed are to over- or underexpress genes by injection of cloned DNA, synthetic messenger RNA (mRNA), or antibodies. This method results in fairly high levels of expression of cloned complementary DNAs (cDNAs) in much of the embryo. Such overexpression has resulted in specific phenotypic effects with approximately one-third of the mRNAs so far tested, and the speed and ease of performing this analysis make it an excellent choice as a rapid functional screen. The major disadvantage of this method is that injected mRNAs are stable only up to the gastrula or neurula stage of development, and so this approach is limited to the analysis of genes acting very early in development. The injection of DNA, although useful for the analysis of promoter function, is less well suited to the study of the …