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[
International Worm Meeting,
2021]
Deleterious mutations can accumulate in natural populations, and reversal mutations are likely to be rare. However, new mutations at other sites can potentially compensate for prior deleterious genetic changes, reversing fitness. In the same vein, mutations that are neutral at the time of substitution may effectively "pre-compensate" future mutations that would otherwise be deleterious, allowing mutations to accumulate that are deleterious under some conditions. Identifying such compensatory or conditional mutations is difficult, however, without an a priori expectation of sequence function. Here we use the canonical structure-function relationship of the cloverleaf-like tRNA secondary structure, as well as the high mutation rate of tRNAs, to study compensatory evolution. Specifically, we are exploring mutations in mitochondrial tRNAs (mt-tRNAs) in Caenorhabditis nematodes, including interactions between mt-tRNAs and associated factors encoded in the nuclear genome.
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[
J Cell Biol,
2019]
Wang studies lysosomal degradation pathways using <i>C. elegans</i> as a model system.
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[
Curr Biol,
2014]
Wang and Seydoux discuss the functional importance of P granules - the germline-specific RNA granules of C. elegans.
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[
Dev Cell,
2017]
In this issue of Developmental Cell, Dickinson etal. (2017) and Rodriguez etal. (2017), along with Wang etal. (2017) in Nature Cell Biology, show how PAR protein oligomerization can dynamically couple protein diffusion and transport by cortical flow to control kinase activity gradients and polarity in the C.elegans zygote.
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[
Dev Cell,
2017]
Reporting in Nature Cell Biology, Lin and Wang (2017) show that bacterial methyl metabolism impacts host mitochondrial dynamics and lipid storage in C.elegans. The authors propose a model whereby bacterial metabolic products regulate a nuclear hormone receptor that promotes lipid accumulation through expression of a secreted Hedgehog-like protein.
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[
Cell,
2014]
The hexosamine biosynthetic pathway (HBP) generates metabolites for protein N- and O-glycosylation. Wang et al. and Denzel et al. report a hitherto unknown link between the HBP and stress in the endoplasmic reticulum. These studies establish the HBP as a critical component of the cellular machinery of protein homeostasis.
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[
Trends Genet,
2023]
Prenatal exposure to environmental agents can influence the fitness of not only the fetus, but also subsequent generations. In a recent study, Wang et al. demonstrated that feeding ursolic acid (UA), a plant-derived compound, to Caenorhabditis elegans mothers during their reproductive period prevented neurodegeneration in not only their offspring, but also the F2 progeny.
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[
Neuron,
2016]
Transmembrane channel-like (TMC) proteins have been implicated in hair cell mechanotransduction, Drosophila proprioception, and sodium sensing in the nematode C.elegans. In this issue of Neuron, Wang etal. (2016) report that C.elegans TMC-1 mediates nociceptor responses to high pH, not sodium, allowing the nematode to avoid strongly alkaline environments in which most animals cannot survive.
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[
Cell Metab,
2005]
Stress-activated kinases control metabolism by antagonizing the early steps of insulin signal transduction. Two papers now demonstrate that Jnk, the prototypical stress-activated kinase, controls life span in Drosophila and C. elegans by promoting phosphorylation of the forkhead protein FoxO (Oh et al., 2005; Wang et al., 2005). The findings provide yet another mechanism by which metabolic and stress responses are integrated via phosphorylation of FoxO proteins.
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[
STAR Protoc,
2022]
Live imaging is an important tool to track dynamic processes such as neuronal patterning events. Here, we describe a protocol for time-lapse microscopy analysis using neuronal migration and dendritic growth as examples. This protocol can provide detailed information for understanding cellular dynamics during postembryonic development in Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Feng etal. (2020), Li etal. (2021), and Wang etal. (2021).