Convergent genetic programs regulate similarities and differences between related motor neuron classes in Caenorhabditis elegans

Convergent genetic programs regulate similarities and differences between related motor neuron classes in Caenorhabditis elegans.

How do genetic programs create features common to a specific cell or tissue type while generating modifications necessary for functional diversification? We have addressed this question using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. The dorsal D (DD) and ventral D (VD) motorneurons (mns), referred to collectively as the D mns, compose a cross-inhibitory network that contributes to the animal's sinu...

ACR-12 ionotropic acetylcholine receptor complexes regulate inhibitory motor neuron activity in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Heterogeneity in the composition of neurotransmitter receptors is thought to provide functional diversity that may be important in patterning neural activity and shaping behavior (Dani and Bertrand, 2007; Sassoè-Pognetto, 2011). However, this idea has remained difficult to evaluate directly because of the complexity of neuronal connectivity patterns and uncertainty about the molecular compositi...

Sex-related differences in crossing over in Caenorhabditis elegans.

In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, hermaphrodite recombination has been characterized and is the basis of the genetic map used in this organism. In this study we have examined male recombination on linkage group I and have found it to be approximately one-third less than that observed in the hermaphrodite. This decrease was interval-dependent and nonuniform. We observed less recombination ...

Two Classes of Silencing RNAs Move between Caenorhabditis elegans Tissues

The family of Caenorhabditis elegans tyrosine kinase receptors: similarities and differences with mammalian receptors.

Transmembrane receptors with tyrosine kinase activity (RTK) constitute a superfamily of proteins present in all metazoans that is associated with the control and regulation of cellular processes. They have been the focus of numerous studies and are a good subject for comparative analyses of multigene families in different species aimed at understanding metazoan evolution. The sequence of the ge...