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[
Nature,
1998]
The human genome is predicted to contain between 50,000 and 100,000 genes. To work out what these genes do, an array of techniques is needed to evaluate the protein-protein interactions and biochemical pathways of any gene product. The nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans is an excellent system for such studies because of its well-understood genetics and development, evolutionary conservation to human genes, small genome size and relatively short life cycle. The 100-megabase-pair genome will be completely sequenced this year, and a total of 17,000 genes have been predicted, many with human counterparts. Approaches used to manipulate gene expression in C. elegans include transposon-mediated deletion, antisense inhibition and direct isolation of deletions after mutagenesis. Although these methods have proved useful, limitations still exist.
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[
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.
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[
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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[
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.
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[
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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[
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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[
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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[
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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[
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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[
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.