Plucky
is an albino Xenopus laevis frog expressing
green fluorescent protein (GFP) in her eye. GFP
is a jellyfish protein that fluoresces bright
green when illuminated by blue light. The gene
for this protein can be added to the genes of
the frog by the technique illustrated below that
was discovered by Kroll and Amaya. GFP is shaped
like a barrel, and its expression in the frog
is controlled by a special kind of DNA called
a promoter. The promoter for the eye we use to
make Plucky and all the rest of the frogs in our
lab is the Xenopus opsin promoter isolated
by Dr. Barry Knox, SUNY Syracuse. Plucky is our
web page navigator. If you want to go to the next
page, click on her thumbnail image below.
Procedure of Kroll and
Amaya. Sperm are mixed with DNA containing
the gene we want to express in the frog and
with other substances that swell the sperm
nuclei to allow the DNA access. The swollen
sperm nuclei are then injected into the eggs.
The fertilized egg becomes a tadpole and a
few months later becomes a frog after metamorphosis.
The eye fluoresces bright green because the
genes contain GFP.
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