Shakambari G et al. (2015) Indian J Exp Biol "Phlorotannins from Brown Algae: inhibition of advanced glycation end products formation in high glucose induced Caenorhabditis elegans."

Ashokkumar B, Varalakshmi P, Shakambari G

[Indian J Exp Biol, 2015]

Advanced Glycation End products (AGE) generated in a non enzymatic protein glycation process are frequently associated with diabetes, aging and other chronic diseases. Here, we explored the protective effect of phlorotannins from brown algae Padina pavonica, Sargassum polycystum and Turbinaria ornata against AGEs formation. Phlorotannins were extracted from brown algae with methanol and its purity was analyzed by TLC and RP-HPLC-DAD. Twenty five grams of P. pavonica, S. polycystum, T. ornata yielded 27.6 +/- 0.8 g/ml, 37.7 g/ml and 37.1 +/- 0.74 g/ml of phloroglucinol equivalent of phlorotannins, respectively. Antioxidant potentials were examined through DPPH assay and their IC50 values were P. pavonica (30.12 +/- 0.99 g), S. polycystum (40.9 +/- 1.2 g) and T. ornata (22.9 +/- 1.3 g), which was comparatively lesser than the control ascorbic acid (46 +/- 0.2 g). Further, anti-AGE activity was examined in vitro by BSA-glucose assay with the extracted phlorotannins of brown algae (P. pavonica, 15.16 +/- 0.26 g/ml; S. polycystum, 35.245 +/- 2.3 g/ml; T. ornata, 22.7 +/- 0.3 g/ml), which revealed the required concentration to inhibit 50% of albumin glycation (IC50) were lower for extracts than controls (phloroglucinol, 222.33 +/- 4.9 g/ml; thiamine, 263 g/ml). Furthermore, brown algal extracts containing phlorotannins (100 l) exhibited protective effects against AGE formation in vivo in C. elegans with induced hyperglycemia.

Ishii K et al. (2001) Heredity "Sexual isolation and cuticular hydrocarbons in Drosophila elegans."

Hirai Y, Katagiri C, Kimura MT, Ishii K

[Heredity, 2001]

In Drosophila elegans, partial sexual isolation has developed between the brown and black morphs, which are distributed allopatrically. The present study aims to understand how they discriminate between potential mates. Mating experiments show that the females of the two morphs differ in sexual signal(s) and the males discriminate using these differences. Body colouration is not used as a sexual cue in this species. Between the females of the two morphs, a large difference was observed in the percentages of 7-pentacosene and 9-pentacosene on the cuticle. Genetical analysis using recombinant inbred lines supported the possibility that the concentration of these pentacosenes plays a role in mate discrimination of these two morphs. However, males did not respond to killed females at all, suggesting that cuticular hydrocarbons of females are not the only cue for the induction of male courtship behaviour. It may be that unknown signals or substances are essential to induce male courtship and pentacosenes modulate the attractiveness of females, positively in the black morph and negatively in the brown morph. Drosophila elegans F1 offspring had intermediate characteristics in mate discrimination and hydrocarbon composition between the parental brown and black morph strains. The number of loci responsible for the differences in the concentration of pentacosenes and the male and female components in the mate recognition between these two morphs is suggested to be more than one.

Chavez, Ivan et al. (2021) International Worm Meeting "Skin-penetrating nematodes exhibit life-stage-specific interactions with host-associated and environmental bacteria"

Chavez, Ivan, Bryant, Astra, Assie, Adrien, Samuel, Buck, Hallem, Elissa, Brown, Taylor

[International Worm Meeting, 2021]

Skin-penetrating nematodes of the genus Strongyloides infect over 600 million people, posing a major global health burden. Their life cycle includes both a parasitic and free-living generation. During the parasitic generation, infective third-stage larvae (iL3s) actively engage in host seeking. During the free-living generation, the nematodes develop and reproduce on host feces. At different points of their life cycle, Strongyloides species encounter bacteria from various ecological niches. However, the microbial interactions between Strongyloides and bacteria remain uncharacterized. We first investigated the microbiome of the human parasite Strongyloides stercoralis using 16S-based amplicon sequencing. We found that S. stercoralis free-living adults have a distinct microbiome, suggesting that they selectively associate with specific fecal bacteria. We then investigated the behavioral responses of S. stercoralis and the closely related rat parasite Strongyloides ratti to an ecologically diverse panel of bacteria. We found that S. stercoralis and S. ratti showed similar responses to bacteria. The responses of both nematodes to bacteria varied dramatically across life stages: free-living adults were strongly attracted to most of the bacteria tested, while iL3s were attracted specifically to soil bacteria. The behavioral responses to bacteria were dynamic, consisting of distinct short- and long-term behaviors. Finally, a comparison of the growth and reproduction of S. stercoralis free-living adults on different bacteria revealed that the bacterium Proteus mirabilis inhibits S. stercoralis egg hatching, greatly decreasing parasite viability. Our results identify bacteria that serve as key sensory cues for directing movement, as well as bacteria that decrease the parasite's reproductive fitness.

Michael A Beer (2005) International Worm Meeting "Systematic genome-wide identification of transcriptional cis-regulatory logic in C. elegans."

Michael A Beer

[International Worm Meeting, 2005]

We have developed a systematic approach for inferring cis-regulatory logic from whole-genome microarray expression data.[1] This approach identifies local DNA sequence elements and the combinatorial and positional constraints that determine their context-dependent role in transcriptional regulation. We use a Bayesian probabilistic framework that relates general DNA sequence features to mRNA expression patterns. By breaking the expression data into training and test sets of genes, we are able to evaluate the predictive accuracy of our inferred Bayesian network. Applied to S. cerevisiae, our inferred combinatorial regulatory rules correctly predict expression patterns for most of the genes. Applied to microarray data from C. elegans[2], we identify novel regulatory elements and combinatorial rules that control the phased temporal expression of transcription factors, histones, and germline specific genes during embryonic and larval development. While many of the DNA elements we find in S. cerevisiae are known transcription factor binding sites, the vast majority of the DNA elements we find in C. elegans and the inferred regulatory rules are novel, and provide focused mechanistic hypotheses for experimental validation. Successful DNA element detection is a limiting factor in our ability to infer predictive combinatorial rules, and the larger regulatory regions in C. elegans make this more challenging than in yeast. Here we extend our previous algorithm to explicitly use conservation of regulatory regions in C. briggsae to focus the search for DNA elements. In addition, we expand the range of regulatory programs we identify by applying to more diverse microarray datasets.[3] 1. Beer MA and Tavazoie S. Cell 117, 185-198 (2004). 2. Baugh LR, Hill AA, Slonim DK, Brown EL, and Hunter, CP. Development 130, 889-900 (2003); Hill AA, Hunter CP, Tsung BT, Tucker-Kellogg G, and Brown EL. Science 290, 809812 (2000). 3. Baugh LR, Hill AA, Claggett JM, Hill-Harfe K, Wen JC, Slonim DK, Brown EL, and Hunter, CP. Development 132, 1843-1854 (2005); Murphy CT, McCarroll SA, Bargmann CI, Fraser A, Kamath RS, Ahringer J, Li H, and Kenyon C. Nature 424 277-283 (2003); Reinke V, Smith HE, Nance J, Wang J, Van Doren C, Begley R, Jones SJ, Davis EB, Scherer S, Ward S, and Kim SK. Mol Cell 6 605-616 (2000).

Nolan RA (1972) Mycologia "Asteromyces cruciatus from North America."

Nolan RA

[Mycologia, 1972]

The hyphomycete Asteromyces cruciatus F. & Mme Moreau was described without a Latin diagnosis or a designated type. The taxon was validated by Hennebert. The known distribution of this monotypic genus has been limited. F. and Mme Moreau found the fungus in sand dunes at Point du Siege (under Psamma sp.) and between Franceville and Le Home (under Agropyrum sp.) on the Normandy coast of France. Brown found A. cruciatus in open sand in the intertidal zone at Studland, Dorset and Sandwich, Kent, England; and Nicot found it in sand dunes and beach samples at Malo-les-Bains on the North Sea coast of France.

Erich M Schwarz et al. (2003) International Worm Meeting "Comparative analysis of cis-regulatory sequences using four Caenorhabditis species."

Nora Mullaney, Erich M Schwarz, Tristan De Buysscher, Paul W Sternberg, Barbara J Wold, John A DeModena, Eunpyo Moon, Hiroaki Shizuya

[International Worm Meeting, 2003]

Comparing homologous cis-regulatory DNA sequences from three or more genomes has advantages over pairwise comparison of only two. Cis-regulatory sequences are short (6-20 bp) and tolerate substantial variation. Purely random pairing of unrelated 100-bp DNA segments is expected to yield two perfect 6 bp matches. Alignment of a third or fourth sequence should greatly lower the frequency of false positive regions, allowing small but real cis-regulatory sequences to be efficiently detected. This increased resolution should also allow direct comparison between phylogenetically conserved sequences and statistically overrepresented sequences, which may yield complementary views of regulatory elements. In the Caenorhabditis genus, C. remanei appears to be most closely related to C. briggsae; two other species, CB5161 and PS1010, comprise the two closest known and culturable Caenorhabditis species outside the elegans-briggsae group (Fitch, 2000). CB5161 is closest to C. elegans, and PS1010 the next most divergent; these two species thus provide an evolutionarily graded series. We have constructed fosmid libraries from CB5161 and PS1010, and begun sequencing individual fosmids for comparative analysis of genes involved in vulval or sensory neuron development. At the same time, we have devised the Mussa software package to adapt the algorithms of Davidson and coworkers (Brown et al., 2002) to multiple sequence analysis. At this writing, we have sequence data from the egl-30, lin-11, and mab-5 loci of both CB5161 and PS1010. Initial results of sequencing and comparative sequence analysis will be presented. References: Brown, C.T., Rust, A.G., Clarke, P.J., Pan, Z., Schilstra, M.J., De Buysscher, T., Griffin, G., Wold, B.J., Cameron, R.A., Davidson, E.H., and Bolouri, H. (2002). New computational approaches for analysis of cis-regulatory networks. Dev. Biol. 246, 86-102; Fitch, D.H.A. (2000). Evolution of Rhabditidae and the male tail. J. Nematol. 32, 235-244.

Matai, Latika et al. (2015) International Worm Meeting "Oxidative quality control regulates response to ER stress through translation control."

Matai, Latika, Rajkumar, Asher, Sengupta, Shantanu, Maity, Shuvadeep, Mukhpadhyay, Arnab, Chakraborty, Kausik

[International Worm Meeting, 2015]

The Unfolded protein response is a signalling network that is triggered by the accumulation of misfolded proteins within the ER lumen, a condition termed as ER stress. Importantly, with progressing age, the ability of an organism to mount an effective response to ER stress declines significantly (Taylor and Dillin, 2013), the reason if resolved completely could have tremendous implications in aging research. In a comprehensive genetic screen to identify modulators of reductive stress-induced UPRER in S. cerevisiae, we found that oxidative quality control (OQC) genes modulate the cellular response to chronic reductive stress. Further studies in Caenorhabditis elegans revealed that ROS accumulation through pharmacological or genetic interventions results in non-canonical translation attenuation, blocking UPRER. Interestingly we find ROS accrual to be a potent reason for age related decline in iUPRER. We also show evidence that, ironically, the evolution of Perk-dependent translation attenuation system allows higher eukaryotes to bypass ROS-dependent non-canonical mode of translation attenuation by decreasing protein load in the ER.Keywords: ROS: Reactive oxygen species, iUPRER: induced UPRER.

Walker JE et al. (1993) J Bioenerg Biomembr "The mitochondrial transport protein superfamily."

Runswick MJ, Walker JE

[J Bioenerg Biomembr, 1993]

The ADP/ATP, phosphate, and oxoglutarate/malate carrier proteins found in the inner membranes of mitochondria, and the uncoupling protein from mitochondria in mammalian brown adipose tissue, belong to the same protein superfamily. Established members of this superfamily have polypeptide chains approximately 300 amino acids long that consist of three tandem related sequences of about 100 amino acids. The tandem repeats from the different proteins are interrelated, and probably have similar secondary structures. The common features of this superfamily are also present in nine proteins of unknown functions characterized by DNA sequencing in various species, most notably in Caenorhabditis elegans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The high level expression in Escherichia coli of the bovine oxoglutarate/malate carrier, and the reconstitution of active carrier from the expressed protein, offers encouragement that the identity of superfamily members of known sequence but unknown function may be uncovered by a similar route.

Mohamed ASA et al. (2000) Journal of Pesticide Science "Lethal activity of galo- and condensed tannins against the free-living soil-inhabiting nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans."

Mohamed ASA, Sato M, Islam SQ, Yamasaki T, Mori T

[Journal of Pesticide Science, 2000]

Great amounts of structurally diverse tannins are annually produced. Tannins have been well known as food phytochemicals (e.g. 3T-O-a-L-arabinopyranosyl-ent-epicatechin-(2a->O-7,4a->8)-epicat echin in cacao mass), medicinal properties (e.g. geraniin in Geranium thunbergii as tonic or antidiarrhoic) or tanning materials for leather manufacture (e.g. wattle tannins in Acacia mollissima). Recently, condensed tannin dimers (procyanidins B-1 and B-3) and its polymers were isolated from Pinus densiflora and characterized as members of the oviposition-stimulating multicomponent system in pine for the cerambycid beetle, Monochamus alternatus. Condensed tannins have also been regarded as antifeedants for phytophagous insects. A marine phlorotannin preparation, polymer of phloroglucinol, obtained from the brown alga Sargassum furvellum inhibits growth of the green algae Dunaliella and Enteromorpha spp. This paper describes isolation and identification of gallo- and condensed tannins and their nematicidal acitivity against the soil-inhabiting nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans.

Masler EP et al. (1999) J Nematol "FMRFamide-like Immunoactivity in Heterodera glycines (Nemata: Tylenchida)."

Masler EP, Kovaleva ES, Sardanelli S

[J Nematol, 1999]

Material antigenically related to the neuromodulatory peptide FMRFamide was detected and examined in preparations of the soybean cyst nematode, Heterodera glycines, and in the free-living nematodes Caenorhabditis elegans and Panagrellus redivivus. FMRFamide-related peptides were quantified by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Specific activities were remarkably similar among all of the vermiform members of the three species. FMRFamide-related peptide immunoactivity was present in both sexes and all stages of H. glycines examined. The highest specific activity was present in second-stage juveniles and in males, and the lowest in white and yellow females. Total FMRFamide-related peptide level per individual was highest in brown females, with 90% of the activity associated with the eggs. Peptide levels in these eggs and in second-stage juveniles were comparable and increased in adults, especially in females. Chromatographic analysis of FMRFamide-related peptide preparations from H. glycines juveniles, C. elegans, and P. redivivus revealed distinct qualitative differences between the infective plant parasite and the free-living nematodes.