Mutation induced clonal markers from polymorphic loci: application to stem cell organisation in the mouse intestine

Marked clones of cells can be induced somatically in intestinal epithelium. The markers are induced by mutation affecting single alleles of polymorphic genetic loci such as Dlb-1 or G6PD whose product can be detected histochemically. Analysis of mutated clones allows the organisation of intestinal stem cells to be investigated. In both small and large bowel the crypts, which contain the intestinal stem cell population, are populated with the progeny of a single cell several times during the life of the mouse. This process could occur by stochastic or hierarchical renewal of cells within the stem cell population.