Genome-wide analysis of developmental and sex-regulated gene expression profiles in C. elegans

We have constructed DNA microarrays containing 17,871 genes, representing about 94% of the 18,967 genes currently annotated in the Caenorhabditis elegans genome. These DNA microarrays can be used as a tool to define a nearly complete molecular profile of gene expression levels associated with different developmental stages, growth conditions, or worm strains. Here, we used these full-genome DNA microarrays to show the relative levels of gene expression for nearly every gene during development, from eggs through adulthood. These expression data can help reveal when a gene may act during development. We also compared gene expression in males to that of hermaphrodites and found a total of 2,171 sex-regulated genes (P &lt; 0.05). The sex-regulated genes provide a global view of the differences between the sexes at a molecular level and identify many genes likely to be involved in sex-specific differentiation and behavior. Set of arrays organized by shared biological context, such as organism, tumors types, processes, etc. Keywords: Logical Set本研究构建了包含17871个基因的DNA微阵列（DNA microarray），覆盖了目前已注释的秀丽隐杆线虫（Caenorhabditis elegans）基因组18967个基因中的约94%。该DNA微阵列可作为研究工具，用于获取与不同发育阶段、生长条件或线虫品系相关的基因表达水平的近乎完整分子图谱。本研究利用这套全基因组DNA微阵列，测定了从虫卵到成虫整个发育阶段中几乎所有基因的相对表达水平。这些表达数据有助于揭示基因在发育过程中发挥作用的时间节点。本研究还比较了雄性与雌雄同体线虫的基因表达谱，共筛选得到2171个性别调控基因（P < 0.05）。这些性别调控基因从分子层面展现了两性间的整体差异，并鉴定出众多可能参与性别特异性分化及行为调控的基因。数据集按共享生物学背景进行分组，例如物种、肿瘤类型、生物学过程等。关键词：逻辑集合（Logical Set）