PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Wendy Fung
AU  - Leigh Wexler
AU  - Maxwell G. Heiman
TI  - Cell-type-specific promoters for <em>C. elegans</em> glia
AID  - 10.1101/2020.06.01.128546
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2020.06.01.128546
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/06/02/2020.06.01.128546.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/06/02/2020.06.01.128546.full
AB  - Glia shape the development and function of the C. elegans nervous system, especially its sense organs and central neuropil (nerve ring). Cell-type-specific promoters allow investigators to label or manipulate individual glial cell types, and therefore provide a key tool for deciphering glial function. In this technical resource, we compare the specificity, brightness, and consistency of cell-type-specific promoters for C. elegans glia. We identify a set of promoters for the study of seven glial cell types (F16F9.3, amphid and phasmid sheath glia; F11C7.2, amphid sheath glia only; grl-2, amphid and phasmid socket glia; hlh-17, cephalic (CEP) sheath glia; and grl-18, inner labial (IL) socket glia) as well as a pan-glial promoter (mir-228). We compare these promoters to promoters that are expressed more variably in combinations of glial cell types (delm-1 and itx-1). We note that the expression of some promoters depends on external conditions or the internal state of the organism, such as developmental stage, suggesting glial plasticity. Finally, we demonstrate an approach for prospectively identifying cell-type-specific glial promoters using existing single-cell sequencing data, and we use this approach to identify two novel promoters specific to IL socket glia (col-53 and col-177).Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.