Tuck S (2011) Curr Biol "Extracellular vesicles: budding regulated by a phosphatidylethanolamine translocase."

Tuck S

[Curr Biol, 2011]

Recent work on a Caenorhabditis elegans transmembrane ATPase reveals a central role for the aminophospholipid phosphatidylethanolamine in the production of a class of extracellular vesicles.

Kress E et al. (2011) Nat Cell Biol "Aurora A in cell division: kinase activity not required."

Kress E, Gotta M

[Nat Cell Biol, 2011]

Aurora A kinase is a key regulator of cell division, whose functions were attributed to its ability to phosphorylate diverse substrates. Aurora A is now shown to have a kinase-independent role in the regulation of chromatin-mediated microtubule assembly.

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.

Prosser SL et al. (2015) Curr Biol "Centrosome biology: the ins and outs of centrosome assembly."

Pelletier L, Prosser SL

[Curr Biol, 2015]

As a microtubule-organizing center, the centrosome undergoes a dramatic increase in size - via expansion of the pericentriolar material - during mitosis. Recent work reveals shared assembly properties of a protein scaffold that facilitates and supports this expansion, a process critical to spindle assembly.

Louis T et al. (2014) Cell "Neurons and behavior: ex uno, plures."

Louis T, Tomchik SM

[Cell, 2014]

Li et al. demonstrate that a single interneuron can regulate analog- and digital-like behaviors guided by two different postsynaptic neurons. Releasing a single neurotransmitter onto downstream neurons that express receptors with distinct biophysical properties enables a small set of neurons to direct a range of functional responses.

Scott CP (2009) Nat Chem Biol "Taking the chemical out of chemical genetics."

Scott CP

[Nat Chem Biol, 2009]

Screening a library of expressed cyclic peptides identified clones that reverse the cytotoxicity of alpha-synuclein in yeast and Caenorhabditis elegans. The results suggest a new approach for intervention in Parkinson's disease, and perhaps a druggable target.

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.

Zhao B et al. (2013) Curr Biol "Neuropeptide signaling: from the gut."

Zhao B, Schafer WR

[Curr Biol, 2013]

In the defecation motor program of Caenorhabditis elegans, a pacemaker rhythm generated by the intestine leads to the activation of motor neurons controlling enteric muscle contraction. A new study demonstrates that this signal is conveyed by a neuropeptide that is released from intestinal cells and acutely depolarizes the motorneurons, acting much like a classical neurotransmitter.

Carstens RP (2014) Mol Cell "Networking in an alternative splicing world."

Carstens RP

[Mol Cell, 2014]

Using Caenorhabditis elegans as a model system, Norris et al. (2014) define complex combinatorial regulation of alternative splicing at single-neuron resolution and illustrate functional coherence among components of a splicing regulatory network controlled by a neuronal splicing factor.

Blaxter M et al. (2012) BMC Biol "The worm in the world and the world in the worm."

Denver DR, Blaxter M

[BMC Biol, 2012]

Caenorhabditis elegans is a preeminent model organism, but the natural ecology of this nematode has been elusive. A four-year survey of French orchards published in BMC Biology reveals thriving populations of C. elegans (and Caenorhabditis briggsae) in rotting fruit and plant stems. Rather than being simply a 'soil nematode', C. elegans appears to be a 'plant-rot nematode'. These studies signal a growing interest in the integrated genomics and ecology of these tractable animals.