Geach Timothy J, Stemple Derek L, Zimmerman Lyle B
National Institute for Medical Research, London, England, UK.
Methods Mol Biol. 2012;917:69-110. doi: 10.1007/978-1-61779-992-1_5.
The pipid frog Xenopus tropicalis has emerged as a powerful new model system for combining genetic and genomic analysis of tetrapod development with robust embryological, molecular, and biochemical assays. Its early development closely resembles that of its well-understood relative X. laevis, from which techniques and reagents can be readily transferred. In contrast to the tetraploid X. laevis, X. tropicalis has a compact diploid genome with strong synteny to those of amniotes. Recently, advances in high-throughput sequencing together with solution-hybridization whole-exome enrichment technology offer powerful strategies for cloning novel mutations as well as reverse genetic identification of sequence lesions in specific genes of interest. Further advantages include the wide range of functional and molecular assays available, the large number of embryos/meioses produced, and the ease of haploid genetics and gynogenesis. The addition of these genetic tools to X. tropicalis provides a uniquely flexible platform for analysis of gene function in vertebrate development.
滑爪蟾热带爪蟾已成为一个强大的新模型系统，可将四足动物发育的遗传和基因组分析与强大的胚胎学、分子和生化检测相结合。它的早期发育与人们熟知的近亲非洲爪蟾非常相似，技术和试剂可以很容易地从非洲爪蟾转移过来。与四倍体的非洲爪蟾不同，热带爪蟾拥有紧凑的二倍体基因组，与羊膜动物的基因组具有很强的同线性。最近，高通量测序技术的进步以及溶液杂交全外显子富集技术为克隆新突变以及对特定感兴趣基因中的序列损伤进行反向遗传学鉴定提供了强大的策略。其他优势包括可用的功能和分子检测种类繁多、产生的胚胎/减数分裂数量众多，以及单倍体遗传学和雌核发育操作简便。将这些遗传工具添加到热带爪蟾中，为分析脊椎动物发育中的基因功能提供了一个独特灵活的平台。
