scholarly journals Structure and conserved function of iso-branched sphingoid bases from the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 3676-3686 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Thomas Hannich ◽  
Denia Mellal ◽  
Suihan Feng ◽  
Andreas Zumbuehl ◽  
Howard Riezman
Keyword(s):  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Drug Target ◽  
Genetic Model ◽  
Model System ◽  
Human Diseases ◽  
Sphingoid Base ◽  
Sphingoid Bases ◽  
Nematode Caenorhabditis Elegans

Nematode-specific iso-branched sphingoid base synthesis: drug-target against parasites and genetic model system for human diseases.

scholarly journals Response to comment on "Magnetosensitive neurons mediate geomagnetic orientation in Caenorhabditis elegans"

eLife ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andres Vidal-Gadea ◽  
Chance Bainbridge ◽  
Ben Clites ◽  
Bridgitte E Palacios ◽  
Layla Bakhtiari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Experimental Methods ◽  
Model System ◽  
Suitable Model ◽  
Nematode Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Cast Doubt ◽  
Positive Results ◽  
Behavioral Assays

Many animals can orient using the earth’s magnetic field. In a recent study, we performed three distinct behavioral assays providing evidence that the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans orients to earth-strength magnetic fields (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="bib28">Vidal-Gadea et al., 2015</xref>). A new study by Landler et al. suggests that C. elegans does not orient to magnetic fields (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="bib10">Landler et al., 2018</xref>). They also raise conceptual issues that cast doubt on our study. Here, we explain how they appear to have missed positive results in part by omitting controls and running assays longer than prescribed, so that worms switched their preferred migratory direction within single tests. We also highlight differences in experimental methods and interpretations that may explain our different results and conclusions. Together, these findings provide guidance on how to achieve robust magnetotaxis and reinforce our original finding that C. elegans is a suitable model system to study magnetoreception.

Caenorhabditis elegans as a model system for human diseases

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 ◽  
pp. 118-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Markaki ◽  
Nektarios Tavernarakis
Keyword(s):  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Model System ◽  
Human Diseases

scholarly journals Functional Genomic Approaches Using the Nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a Model System

BMB Reports ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun-Ho Lee ◽  
Seung-Hee Nam ◽  
Soon-Baek Hwang ◽  
Min-Gi Hong ◽  
Jae-Young Kwon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Model System ◽  
Functional Genomic ◽  
Nematode Caenorhabditis Elegans

Interaction of a Free-Living Soil Nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, with Surrogates of Foodborne Pathogenic Bacteria

2003 ◽  
Vol 66 (9) ◽  
pp. 1543-1549 ◽  
Author(s):  
GARY L. ANDERSON ◽  
KRISHAUN N. CALDWELL ◽  
LARRY R. BEUCHAT ◽  
PHILLIP L. WILLIAMS
Keyword(s):  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Young Adult ◽  
Salmonella Typhimurium ◽  
Avirulent Strain ◽  
Soil Nematode ◽  
Gram Negative Bacteria ◽  
Nematode Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Gram Positive ◽  
Gram Negative

Free-living nematodes may harbor, protect, and disperse bacteria, including those ingested and passed in viable form in feces. These nematodes are potential vectors for human pathogens and may play a role in foodborne diseases associated with fruits and vegetables eaten raw. In this study, we evaluated the associations between a free-living soil nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, and Escherichia coli, an avirulent strain of Salmonella Typhimurium, Listeria welshimeri, and Bacillus cereus. On an agar medium, young adult worms quickly moved toward colonies of all four bacteria; over 90% of 3-day-old adult worms entered colonies within 16 min after inoculation. After 48 h, worms moved in and out of colonies of L. welshimeri and B. cereus but remained associated with E. coli and Salmonella Typhimurium colonies for at least 96 h. Young adult worms fed on cells of the four bacteria suspended in K medium. Worms survived and reproduced with the use of nutrients derived from all test bacteria, as determined for eggs laid by second-generation worms after culturing for 96 h. Development was slightly slower for worms fed gram-positive bacteria than for worms fed gram-negative bacteria. Worms that fed for 24 h on bacterial lawns formed on tryptic soy agar dispersed bacteria over a 3-h period when they were transferred to a bacteria-free agar surface. The results of this study suggest that C. elegans and perhaps other free-living nematodes are potential vectors for both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, including foodborne pathogens in soil.

Tc8, a Tourist-like Transposon in Caenorhabditis elegans

Genetics ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 158 (3) ◽  
pp. 1081-1088 ◽  
Author(s):  
Quang Hien Le ◽  
Kime Turcotte ◽  
Thomas Bureau
Keyword(s):  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Expressed Sequence Tags ◽  
Large Family ◽  
Insertion Sequences ◽  
Normal Plant ◽  
Nematode Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Plant Genomes ◽  
Plant Genes ◽  
Expressed Sequence ◽  
Eukaryotic Genomes

Abstract Members of the Tourist family of miniature inverted-repeat transposable elements (MITEs) are very abundant among a wide variety of plants, are frequently found associated with normal plant genes, and thus are thought to be important players in the organization and evolution of plant genomes. In Arabidopsis, the recent discovery of a Tourist member harboring a putative transposase has shed new light on the mobility and evolution of MITEs. Here, we analyze a family of Tourist transposons endogenous to the genome of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (Bristol N2). One member of this large family is 7568 bp in length, harbors an ORF similar to the putative Tourist transposase from Arabidopsis, and is related to the IS5 family of bacterial insertion sequences (IS). Using database searches, we found expressed sequence tags (ESTs) similar to the putative Tourist transposases in plants, insects, and vertebrates. Taken together, our data suggest that Tourist-like and IS5-like transposons form a superfamily of potentially active elements ubiquitous to prokaryotic and eukaryotic genomes.

scholarly journals Sperm Competition in the Absence of Fertilization in Caenorhabditis elegans

Genetics ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 152 (1) ◽  
pp. 201-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Singson ◽  
Katherine L Hill ◽  
Steven W L’Hernault
Keyword(s):  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Sperm Competition ◽  
Sperm Function ◽  
Sperm Precedence ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Nematode Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Normal Sperm ◽  
Self Fertilization ◽  
Competition Assays

Abstract Hermaphrodite self-fertilization is the primary mode of reproduction in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. However, when a hermaphrodite is crossed with a male, nearly all of the oocytes are fertilized by male-derived sperm. This sperm precedence during reproduction is due to the competitive superiority of male-derived sperm and results in a functional suppression of hermaphrodite self-fertility. In this study, mutant males that inseminate fertilization-defective sperm were used to reveal that sperm competition within a hermaphrodite does not require successful fertilization. However, sperm competition does require normal sperm motility. Additionally, sperm competition is not an absolute process because oocytes not fertilized by male-derived sperm can sometimes be fertilized by hermaphrodite-derived sperm. These results indicate that outcrossed progeny result from a wild-type cross because male-derived sperm are competitively superior and hermaphrodite-derived sperm become unavailable to oocytes. The sperm competition assays described in this study will be useful in further classifying the large number of currently identified mutations that alter sperm function and development in C. elegans.

scholarly journals Genetic, Behavioral and Environmental Determinants of Male Longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans

Genetics ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 154 (4) ◽  
pp. 1597-1610 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Gems ◽  
Donald L Riddle
Keyword(s):  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Life Span ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Neuronal Function ◽  
Nematode Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Wild Isolate ◽  
Young Males ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Single Sex ◽  
Solitary Males

Abstract Males of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans are shorter lived than hermaphrodites when maintained in single-sex groups. We observed that groups of young males form clumps and that solitary males live longer, indicating that male-male interactions reduce life span. By contrast, grouped or isolated hermaphrodites exhibited the same longevity. In one wild isolate of C. elegans, AB2, there was evidence of copulation between males. Nine uncoordinated (unc) mutations were used to block clumping behavior. These mutations had little effect on hermaphrodite life span in most cases, yet many increased male longevity even beyond that of solitary wild-type males. In one case, the neuronal function mutant unc-64(e246), hermaphrodite life span was also increased by up to 60%. The longevity of unc-4(e120), unc-13(e51), and unc-32(e189) males exceeded that of hermaphrodites by 70–120%. This difference appears to reflect a difference in sex-specific life span potential revealed in the absence of male behavior that is detrimental to survival. The greater longevity of males appears not to be affected by daf-2, but is influenced by daf-16. In the absence of male-male interactions, median (but not maximum) male life span was variable. This variability was reduced when dead bacteria were used as food. Maintenance on dead bacteria extended both male and hermaphrodite longevity.

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