Negga R et al. (2011) Neurotoxicology "Exposure to Mn/Zn ethylene-bis-dithiocarbamate and glyphosate pesticides leads to neurodegeneration in Caenorhabditis elegans."

Fitsanakis VA, Negga R, Fields AS, Davis NS, Rudd DA, Hatfield HE, Valente AL, Justice AN

[Neurotoxicology, 2011]

Epidemiological evidence suggests positive correlations between pesticide usage and the incidence of Parkinson's disease (PD). To further explore this relationship, we used wild type (N2) Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) to test the following hypothesis: Exposure to a glyphosate-containing herbicide (TD) and/or a manganese/zinc ethylene-bis-dithiocarbamate-containing fungicide (MZ) may lead to neurotoxicity. We exposed N2 worms to varying concentrations of TD or MZ for 30 min (acute) or 24h (chronic). To replicate agricultural usage, a third population was exposed to TD (acute) followed by MZ (acute). For acute TD exposure, the LC(50)=8.0% (r(2)=0.6890), while the chronic LC(50)=5.7% (r(2)=0.9433). Acute MZ exposure led to an LC(50)=0.22% (r(2)=0.5093), and chronic LC(50)=0.50% (r(2)=0.9733). The combined treatment for TD+MZ yielded an LC(50)=12.5% (r(2)=0.6367). Further studies in NW1229 worms, a pan-neuronally green fluorescent protein (GFP) tagged strain, indicated a statistically significant (p<0.05) and dose-dependent reduction in green pixel number in neurons of treated worms following each paradigm. This reduction of pixel number was accompanied by visual neurodegeneration in photomicrographs. For the dual treatment, Bliss analysis suggested synergistic interactions. Taken together, these data suggest neuronal degeneration occurs in C. elegans following treatment with environmentally relevant concentrations of TD or MZ.

Aspbury RA et al. (1995) Biochem Soc Trans "Fatty acylation of polypeptides in the free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans."

Aspbury RA, Fisher MJ, Rees HH

[Biochem Soc Trans, 1995]

Modification, by the addition of lipid-derived groups, is an important determinant of the correct expression of a variety of polypeptides involved in signal transduction. Myristic and palmitic acid are the predominant fatty acids attached to proteins in eucaryotes. Myristic acid is normally linked, cotranslationally, via an amide bond to an N-terminal glycine. In contrast, palmitic acid attachment occurs post-translationally via an alkali-labile ester or thioester linkage...

Reilly DK et al. (2019) Curr Biol "Chemical Communication: Linking Behavior and Physiology."

Reilly DK, Srinivasan J

[Curr Biol, 2019]

How does physiological state affect the reproductive behavior of an organism? Two new studies in Caenorhabditis elegans implicate an ancient serotonergic neuronal circuit in the link between these two outputs- reproductive behavior and physiology.

Takayama, Jun et al. (2021) MicroPubl Biol

Tajima, Tatsuya, Takayama, Jun, Onami, Shuichi, Nishimura, Hitoshi

[MicroPubl Biol, 2021]

Gamete fusion is a pivotal step during fertilization to create an organism of the next generation. In C. elegans, since oocytes have no thick egg coat like the zona pellucida, perhaps spermatozoa directly bind to and fuse with the oocyte plasma membrane (PM). Thus, C. elegans is an excellent model to investigate how a spermatozoon and an oocyte fuse together.

Wang P et al. (2022) Food Chem X "Acylating blueberry anthocyanins with fatty acids: Improvement of their lipid solubility and antioxidant activities."

Zhuang Y, Fei P, Wang P, Liu J

[Food Chem X, 2022]

Aimed at exploring the impact of fatty acid side chains on the anthocyanins, n-valeric acid, n-decanoic acid and myristic acid were used to grafting onto the blueberry anthocyanins, and the acylating degree value of the of n-valeric acid acylated anthocyanins (Va-An), n-decanoic acid acylated anthocyanins (De-An) and myristic acid acylated anthocyanins (My-An) reached 6.43 %, 7.56% and 8.38 %, respectively. After acylation modification, the octanol-water partition coefficient of the anthocyanins increased from -0.20 (native anthocyanins, Na-An) to 0.65 (Va-An), 0.66 (De-An) and 0.72 (My-An), respectively, indicating the increasement of the lipid solubility. Besides, although the DPPH clearance of acylated anthocyanins was lower than that of native anthocyanins, the inhibition ratio of β-carotene bleaching and malonaldehyde reduction effect of the acylated blueberry anthocyanins in Caenorhabditis elegans were both stronger than that of native anthocyanins, which might be caused by the improvement of lipid solubility of the anthocyanins.

Dedkhad W et al. (2018) Acta Trop "Effects of cross-mating on susceptibility of synonymous mosquitoes, Anopheles paraliae and Anopheles lesteri to infection with nocturnally subperiodic Brugia malayi."

Taai K, Hempolchom C, Joshi D, Christensen BM, Saeung A, Bartholomay LC, Dedkhad W

[Acta Trop, 2018]

In Southeast Asia, Anopheles lesteri (recently synonymized with An. paraliae) is a competent vector for Plasmodium parasites, but its ability to transmit parasites that cause lymphatic filariasis has yet to be determined. In this study, the susceptibility of An. lesteri and An. paraliae to Brugia malayi parasites was determined by comparing with the control mosquito, Aedes togoi. We found that the infection prevalence per infected mosquito in An. paraliae was significantly lower than that in Ae. togoi in all experiments (p< 0.05). Reciprocal crosses (female An. paraliae x male An. lesteri) produced highly susceptible F₁-hybrid progeny, with increased infection prevalence when compared to parental stocks (p< 0.05). Subsequently, the possibilities of introgression between high and low/moderate parasite susceptibility genes were investigated by cross-mating experiments (parental, reciprocal crosses, back crosses and repeated backcrosses). The results showed the possibility of introgression of B. malayi-susceptible genes between An. paraliae (low/moderate susceptibility) and An. lesteri (high susceptibility) based on increasing or decreasing susceptibility and normal larval development in the thoracic muscles of F₃-hybrids. Additionally, melanization, an innate immune response with proven involvement in the susceptibility or refractoriness of mosquitoes to B. malayi parasites, was examined. Parasite degeneration and cell aggregation, and melanization were observed for first-stage larvae in the thoracic muscle fibers of hybrid mosquitoes.

Cinquin A et al. (2020) Elife "More than just a pool."

Cinquin A, Cinquin O

[Elife, 2020]

An intricate stem cell niche boundary formed by finger-like extensions generates asymmetry in stem cell divisions.

Choi CP et al. (2023) MicroPubl Biol "CRISPR/Cas9 mediated genome editing of Caenorhabditis nigoni using the conserved dpy-10 co-conversion marker."

Choi CP, Villeneuve AM

[MicroPubl Biol, 2023]

In this study, we developed an efficient co-conversion marker, using the conserved <i>dpy-10</i> gene, to facilitate creation and detection of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated targeted genomic changes in an emerging male/female nematode model system, <i>Caenorhabditis nigoni</i> .

Amirthagunabalasingam S et al. (2017) Bio Protoc "Imaging the Pharynx to Measure the Uptake of Doxorubicin in Caenorhabditis elegans."

Amirthagunabalasingam S, Harihar T, Papaluca A, Ramotar D

[Bio Protoc, 2017]

<i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> offers an array of advantages to investigate the roles of uptake transporters. Herein, an epifluorescent microscopy approach was developed to monitor the uptake of the autofluorescent anticancer drug, doxorubicin, into the pharynx of <i>C. elegans</i> by organic cation transporters.

Abrahamsson S et al. (2013) Nat Methods "Fast multicolor 3D imaging using aberration-corrected multifocus microscopy."

Gustafsson MG, Hajj B, Soule P, Bargmann CI, Dahan M, Mizuguchi G, Darzacq X, Chen J, Wisniewski J, Agard DA, Katsov AY, Mueller F, Stallinga S, Dugast Darzacq C, Abrahamsson S, Wu C

[Nat Methods, 2013]

Conventional acquisition of three-dimensional (3D) microscopy data requires sequential z scanning and is often too slow to capture biological events. We report an aberration-corrected multifocus microscopy method capable of producing an instant focal stack of nine 2D images. Appended to an epifluorescence microscope, the multifocus system enables high-resolution 3D imaging in multiple colors with single-molecule sensitivity, at speeds limited by the camera readout time of a single image.