-
[
Elife,
2015]
A pair of neurons is required for nematodes to be able to navigate using the Earth's magnetic field.
-
[
Elife,
2014]
Advances in sample preparation and electron microscopy have allowed the structure of cilia to be explored at an unprecedented level of detail.
-
[
Nat Neurosci,
2001]
A characterization of C. elegans lacking the gene for Rim suggests that this protein may be involved in pruning synaptic vesicles for fusion, not in docking or organizing active zones.
-
[
Neuron,
2004]
Two papers in the current issues of Neuron (Gallegos and Bargmann) and Cell (Emoto et al.) identify a conserved kinase, SAX-1/Trc, and a large protein required for Trc activity, SAX-2/Fry, as essential elements in the control of dendritic branching and tiling in Drosophila and C. elegans. The tiling and ectopic branching phenotypes of trc mutants appear to be independently generated. Thus, this kinase is the first signaling protein to be associated specifically with tiling.
-
[
Nature,
2000]
A tiny RNA molecule ensures that the larvae of a roundworm develop into adults. The discovery of this RNA in many other animal groups implies that this way of keeping developmental time may be universal.
-
[
Curr Biol,
2011]
New work now shows that the dauer larvae of Caenorhabditis elegans can survive anhydrobiotically. The genetic tractability of this model organism may be useful in studying how organisms survive when losing most or all of their water.
-
[
Curr Biol,
2012]
What are the earliest signals produced at a wound edge that mobilise epithelial cells to heal the wound? Live analysis of wound healing in the worm Caenorhabditis elegans shows that calcium may be the key early trigger.
-
[
Curr Biol,
2015]
The new field of connectomics aims to obtain fine-grained anatomical connectivity data for vertebrate brains. A recent study highlights the types of experiments that will be necessary in order to draw conclusions about function from anatomical connectivity.
-
[
Nature,
2002]
The genomes of animals, plants and fungi seem to be relatively disorganized. Genes appear to be randomly distributed, with only a few exceptions: repeats of similar sequences caused by gene duplications, for example, and a limited number of ancient gene clusters containing functionally related genes (such as the Hox genes that are involved in control of animal development). Apart from these, the average gene is generally assumed to be independent of its neighbours, and genomes are constantly rearranged and shuffled. However, in one group of animals the nematodes (small, unsegmented worms) neighboring genes are occasionally assembled into regulatory units called operons. On page 851 of this issue, Blumenthal et al. now report the first whole-genome characterization of such operons in a mulicellular organism, an raise intriguing questions as to how (and why) they have evolved.
-
[
Nat Neurosci,
2003]
In C. elegans, social and solitary feeding behavior can be determined by a single amino acid change in a G protein-coupled receptor. A new study identifies ligands for this receptor and suggests how changes in behavior evolve at the molecular level.