Abstract
The handedness of gastropods is genetically determined, but the molecular nature of the gene responsible remains unknown. In order to identify the gene by a forward genetic approach, we carried out backcross breeding between dextral and sinistral inbred strains of a freshwater gastropod, Lymnaea stagnalis, cultivated in the laboratory. We used the dextral animals as donor "fathers" and the sinistral animals as recurrent "mothers". Each of the backcross progeny obtained was typed for the chirality of the next generation offspring oviposited by it, because the genotype for the handedness locus emerges as filial chirality. We constructed a collection of DNA and RNA specimens that included about 200 of the backcross F2 progeny. Success in breeding was confirmed by the expected inheritance behavior of strain-specific DNA markers in the progeny.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Professor Gary Freeman and Judith W. Lundelius for advice on the construction and maintenance of the laboratory snail stocks and to Professor Takahiro Asami (Shinshu Univ.) for his kind assistance in obtaining the snails. We also wish to thank all past and present members of our laboratory, especially Midori Kodama, Yuki Kadoishi, Keita Miyoshi, and Kota Yoshimatsu, for their efforts in maintaining the snail stocks.
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The first two authors have contributed equally.
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Hosoiri, Y., Harada, Y. & Kuroda, R. Construction of a backcross progeny collection of dextral and sinistral individuals of a freshwater gastropod, Lymnaea stagnalis . Dev Genes Evol 213, 193–198 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00427-003-0315-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00427-003-0315-y