MiniSOG-mediated Photoablation in Caenorhabdtis elegans

Abstract

This protocol describes a method for light-inducible cell ablation in live worms. miniSOG (mini Singlet Oxygen Generator) generates singlet oxygen upon blue light illumination (Shu et al., 2011). Mitochondrially membrane targeted miniSOG (the first 55 a. a. of C. e. tomm-20 fused at the N’-terminus of miniSOG, termed as mito-miniSOG in the following) is transgenically expressed in specific cells/tissues (Qi et al., 2012). Groups of transgenic animals are illuminated under open field fluorescence light on a compound microscope or LED light setup for photo-ablation.