Silva M et al. (2014) Elife "Tomography gives a new dimension to an ancient organelle."

Silva M, Barr MM

[Elife, 2014]

Advances in sample preparation and electron microscopy have allowed the structure of cilia to be explored at an unprecedented level of detail.

Musacchio A (2015) Elife "Closing the Mad2 cycle."

Musacchio A

[Elife, 2015]

Chromosome separation is regulated by a cycle that involves a protein undergoing an unusual topological conversion.

Podbilewicz B (2003) Dev Cell "How does a cell anchor and invade an organ?"

Podbilewicz B

[Dev Cell, 2003]

In multicellular organisms, most cells are confined to a particular tissue. However, some cells invade organs during normal development and in diseases (e.g., angiogenesis and cancer). Recent studies reveal a fascinating step-by-step process in which specific vulval cells induce and attract a single gonadal cell to invade an epithelial tubular organ in order to connect the uterus to the vulva in C. elegans.

Ringstad N (2017) Curr Biol "Neuromodulation: The Fevered Mind of the Worm."

Ringstad N

[Curr Biol, 2017]

A landmark study has revealed that an interleukin-17-like signaling system modulates a neural circuit that controls the aggregation behavior of nematodes.

Ringstad N (2014) Elife "Fatal attraction."

Ringstad N

[Elife, 2014]

A beetle pheromone that lures nematode worms to an insect host can also stop their development or even kill them outright.

Kaser A et al. (2010) Cell Res "Survive an innate immune response through XBP1."

Blumberg RS, Kaser A

[Cell Res, 2010]

Rechavi O (2020) Curr Biol "Transgenerational Inheritance: That Pathogen Gut Feeling."

Rechavi O

[Curr Biol, 2020]

Recognizing and remembering dangerous pathogens is of the utmost importance for an animal's survival. Nematodes use a digested bacterial small RNA molecule as a cue of pathogenicity. Inheritance of this RNA even protects the progeny from infection.

Signore IA et al. (2014) Curr Biol "Genetics: a common origin for neuronal asymmetries?"

Signore IA, Concha ML

[Curr Biol, 2014]

A new study reveals an unexpected genetic link between two distinct types of neuronal asymmetries in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. This finding suggests a common origin of genetically determined asymmetries and raises intriguing questions about their evolution.

Kristan WB (2015) Cell "Pinning down randomness."

Kristan WB

[Cell, 2015]

While some behavioral responses to a stimulus are invariant in animals, most are more likely to be variable or stochastic. In this issue, Gordus et al. illuminate a set of combinatorial neuronal activities that control the variability of a chemotactic behavior in response to an odor, providing a tractable system for understanding how stochastic circuit dynamics affect behavior.

Aguirre-Chen C et al. (2014) Elife "Cell death machinery makes life more robust."

Hammell CM, Aguirre-Chen C

[Elife, 2014]

CED-3, a protein that is essential for programmed cell death, also has an unexpected role in the regulation of non-apoptotic genes during normal development.