Angeles Albores, David et al. (2015) International Worm Meeting "Preparing Panagrellus redivivus for molecular genetics."

Lee, Daehan, Angeles Albores, David, Sternberg, Paul, Lee, Junho

[International Worm Meeting, 2015]

Panagrellus redivivus is a free-living nematode that is evolutionarily distant from C. elegans being in clade IV versus clade V respectively . Although the species has been known since the 1700s, it is used more for toxicology and fish food than for biological analysis. Sternberg, Horvitz and Sulston worked out the post-embryonic and partial embryonic lineages in the 1980s, and a draft genome has been published. We are studying P. redivivus intensely in preparation for molecular genetics studies. We complete the description of the life cycle of this species by confirmation of a dauer larva stage, which is absent in the British lab strain, but present in a natural isolate from Korea. We show functional analogy of the P. redivivus distal tip cell (DTC) to the C. elegans DTC and also show functional conservation of the cholinergic system in regulation of male tail flexion in P. redivivus. We demonstrate qualitative results of key cell ablations in the mail tail of P. redivivus on mating behavior, and present preliminary results concerning attempts at transgenesis and RNAi in this beautiful worm. .

Angeles-Albores, David et al. (2021) International Worm Meeting "Transcriptomic analyses of hermaphrodite responses to the male pheromone"

Aprison, Erin, Ruvinsky, Ilya, Dzitoyeva, Svetlana, Angeles-Albores, David

[International Worm Meeting, 2021]

Social signals, including sex pheromones, play important roles in the decision-making of animals. These decisions range from short-term behavioral choices to binary, costly commitments. For example, our recent work established that C. elegans hermaphrodites select germline investment allocation strategies based on external stimuli, including food abundance and the presence of potential mating partners, signaled by the male ascaroside pheromone, ascr#10. This decision can only be made during a window of several hours in early adulthood. We seek to understand how this pheromone is sensed and integrated with other inputs by the nervous system, and its impact on hermaphrodite physiology. We used transcriptomics as an unbiased way to test several hypotheses regarding ascr#10 effects on hermaphrodites. First, prior work suggested that pre-reproductive adult hermaphrodites do not respond to this male pheromone. Instead, we found that these young adults show a substantial transcriptional signature that resembles the one seen in pheromone-responsive adults. We interpret this result as an indication that the lack of overt behavioral and physiological responses in younger worms may be due to targeted response modulation, not the complete absence of relevant receptor(s) or signal transduction components. Second, a specific serotonergic circuit, that is engaged upon the onset of egg laying, licenses behavioral and physiological responses to ascr#10. Transcriptomic responses to the pheromone in mutants that disrupt activity of this circuit identified ways in which serotonin modulates hermaphrodites responses to the presence of males and couples physiology to reproductive status. Finally, a comprehensive analysis of genes differentially expressed in response to ascr#10, revealed several physiological processes, and their regulators, that are likely responsible for the beneficial effects of this male pheromone on the hermaphrodite germline and the detrimental effects on organismal longevity.

Chalasani SH et al. (2007) Genome Biol "Global 'worming'."

Feinberg EH, Hilliard MA, Chalasani SH

[Genome Biol, 2007]

: A report on the 16th International Caenorhabditis elegans Meeting, Los Angeles, USA, 27 June-1 July 2007.

Aprison, Erin et al. (2021) International Worm Meeting "A male pheromone that improves quality of the oogenic germline uncovers a strategy to counteract reproductive aging"

Angeles-Albores, David, Aprison, Erin, Dzitoyeva, Svetlana, Ruvinsky, Ilya

[International Worm Meeting, 2021]

Conspecific males and females communicate with potential mating partners via sex pheromones to promote reproductive success, but the underlying mechanisms remain largely enigmatic. We discovered how a C. elegans male pheromone, ascr#10, improves the oogenic germline and in the process identified an apparently conserved strategy to improve oocyte quality using commonly available pharmaceuticals. As they age, C. elegans hermaphrodites start producing lower quality oocytes characterized by abnormal morphology, increased rates of chromosomal nondisjunction, and higher penetrance of deleterious alleles. We showed that exposure to the male pheromone substantially ameliorates all of these defects and reduces embryonic lethality. ascr#10 stimulates proliferation of germline precursor cells in adult hermaphrodites. Greater precursor supply increases physiological germline cell death, which is required to improve oocyte quality in older mothers. Because ascr#10 effects on the germline require serotonergic signaling, we tested whether pharmaceuticals, including serotonin reuptake inhibitors, could improve germline quality in the absence of the pheromone. We found that compounds that potentiate serotonin signaling do indeed improve oocyte quality in C. elegans as well as in Drosophila. Together, our results suggest the male pheromone improves oocyte quality, but shortens organismal longevity because of the competition over resource allocation between soma and the germline. Practically, our findings reveal a class of therapeutic interventions using available compounds that could forestall reproductive aging.

Zarkower D et al. (1994) Worm Breeder's Gazette "mab-3 YAC Rescue"

De Bono M, Hodgkin JA, Zarkower D

[Worm Breeder's Gazette, 1994]

mab-3 YAC rescue David Zarkower, Mario de Bono, and Jonathan Hodgkin MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, England

Weinkove D (2018) BMC Biol "On microbes, aging and the worm: an interview with David Weinkove."

Weinkove D

[BMC Biol, 2018]

David Weinkove is an associate professor at Durham University, UK, studying host-microbe interactions in the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. David has been focusing on the way microbes affect the physiology of their hosts, including the process of aging. In this interview, he discusses the questions shaping his research, how they evolved over the years, and his guiding principles for leading a lab.

Miller DM et al. (1992) Worm Breeder's Gazette "unc-4 LacZ Expression in A-Type Motor Neurons"

Miller DM, Niemeyer CJ

[Worm Breeder's Gazette, 1992]

unc-4 LacZ expression in A-type motor neurons David M. Miller and Charles J. Niemeyer, Dept. of Cell Biology, Duke Univ. Medical Ctr, Durham, NC 27710

Grenache DG et al. (1993) Worm Breeder's Gazette "Differential Effects of Dauer-Defective Mutations in L1-Specific Surface Antigen Switching"

Politz SM, Grenache DG

[Worm Breeder's Gazette, 1993]

DIFFERENTIAL EFFECTS OF DAUER-DEFECTIVE MUTATIONS ON L1- SPECIFIC SURFACE ANTIGEN SWITCHING. David G. Grenache and Samuel M. Politz, Department of Biology and Biotechnology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA.

Emmons SW et al. (1994) Worm Breeder's Gazette "Strain Names for non-C. elegans Species."

Emmons SW, Fitch DHA, Leroi AM

[Worm Breeder's Gazette, 1994]

Strain names for non-C. elegans species Scott W. Emmonst, Armand Leroit, and David Fitch, Department of Molecular Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Ave., Bronx, NY 10461, Department of Biology, New York University, RmlOO9 Main Bldg., Washington Square, New York, NY 10003

Hall DH et al. (1994) Worm Breeder's Gazette "Cytology of Degenerin-Induced Cell Death in the PVM Neuron"

Driscoll MA, Chalfie M, Gu GQ, Hall DH, Gong L

[Worm Breeder's Gazette, 1994]

Cytology of degenerin-induced cell death in the PVM neuron David H. Hall, Guoqiang Gu+, Lei Gong#, Monica Driscoll#, and Martin Chalfie+, * Dept. Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, N.Y. 10461 + Dept. Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, N.Y. 10027 # Dept. Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Rutgers University, Piscataway, N.J. 08855