Recovery of duplications by drug resistance selection in Caenorhabditis elegans

We have devised a scheme that facilitates rapid screening for duplications of essential loci. Our scheme takes advantage of the lev-1(x22) mutation, which confers resistance in a recessive fashion to the potent anthelmintic levamisole. We have tested our methodology by recovering two gamma ray induced duplications of let-56, the first essential gene to the left of unc-22. One of the duplications is attached to the fourth chromosome. The other duplication is attached to the X chromosome. This duplication contains a functional copy of the unc-22 gene, as well as functional copies of several essential loci adjacent to unc-22. Results we have obtained during analysis of this duplication are compatible with the notion that the copy of the unc-22 gene located on the duplication is subject to X chromosome dosage compensation.