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Driscoll M, Kyrpides NC, Everett JK, Tavernarakis N

[Curr Biol, 2001]

The degenerin/epithelial sodium channel (DEG/ ENaC) protein family includes related ion channel subunits from organisms ranging from the simple nematode Caenorhabditis elegans to humans. Members of this protein family have been implicated in functions as diverse as touch transduction and proprioception [1-4], pain sensation and maintenance of sodium balance [5].

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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.

Mitchell A (1998) Nature "Behavioural genetics. Worming out social secrets."

Mitchell A

[Nature, 1998]

Some species of the nematode worm (Caenorhabditis elegans) are sociable diners, clumping together to share a meal, yet others are more solitary. Why? According to a report by de Bono and Bargmann, these differences can be explained by a change of just one amino acid in a putative neuropeptide receptor.

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Potter CJ, Luo L

[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.

Rutkowski R et al. (2010) Nat Cell Biol "Tagging the dead: a bridging factor for Caenorhabditis elegans phagocyte receptors."

Rutkowski R, Gartner A

[Nat Cell Biol, 2010]

Recognition of apoptotic cells by phagocytic cells in Caenorhabditis elegans has been something of a mystery. A secreted transthyretin-like protein, TTR-52, has been identified as a bridging molecule between apoptotic cells and CED-1 on the phagocytic cells that engulf them.

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Herman RK

[Nature, 1992]

Induction is the process in development in which the fate of one cell mass is determined by another. A simple example occurs during vulval development in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans: a gonadal cell called the anchor cell induces three neighbouring cells to embark on a programme of cell division and morphogenesis, which culminates, in a few hours, in the formation of a vulva. On page 470 of this issue, Hill and Sternberg report strong evidence that they have identified the anchor-cell signalling molecule, which they find is a member of the EGF (epidermal growth factor) group of growth factors.

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Gems D, McElwee JJ

[Nature, 2003]

Understanding how we grow old is a long-sought goal. A new large-scale study of gene expression in worms allows us to glimpse the complex biochemistry of lifespan.

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Angier N

[New York Times, 1992]

The simple act of making sperm substantially shortens a male worm's life span, a researcher has discovered in results that overturn accepted biological dogma about the relative cheapness of a male's ejaculation compared with the preciousness of a female's egg. The scientist studying simple but revealing worms called nematodes found that males live much shorter lives than their mates, and he has traced that discrepancy to sperm production.

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Tavernarakis N, Driscoll M

[Nat Neurosci, 2000]

A recent Nature paper on mice lacking the Na+ channel BNC1 shows that this channel is essential for neuronal touch receptor function and may be part of a mechanosensory complex.

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Roush W

[Science, 1997]

A gene that helps control the life-span of the nematode C. elegans encodes the worm version of the insulin receptor, thereby providing a possible link between aging and glucose metabolism.