Yersinia pestis has acquired a variety of complex strategies that enable the bacterium to overcome defenses in different hosts and ensure its survival and successful transmission. A full-genome microarray analysis on Caenorhabditis elegans infected with Y. pestis shows enrichment in genes that are markers of innate immune responses and regulated by a conserved PMK-1/p38 MAPK. Consistent with a ...

1 regulate cortical release of WRM-1/beta-catenin to control cell division orientation in early Caenorhabditis elegans embryos"

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are an abundant class of tiny RNAs thought to regulate the expression of protein-coding genes in plants and animals. In the present study, we describe a computational procedure to identify miRNA genes conserved in more than one genome. Applying this program, known as MiRscan, together with molecular identification and validation methods, we have identified most of the miRNA g...

worming: The behaviors of Caenorhabditis (C.) elegans in DC and AC electric fields" (2011). Departmental Papers (MEAM). 278.

Serpins are a highly conserved superfamily of serine and papain-like cysteine proteinase inhibitors that are divided phylogenetically into clades. Serpins also can be divided anatomically into those that reside predominately outside or inside cells. While the activities of the extracellular serpins are well understood, the biological functions, as well as the overall distribution of the intrace...

Neonicotinoids are potent agonists of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors that exert insecticidal effects by causing abnormal excitation the nervous system. and their metabolites effect in mammals, including humans, have become a concern. In present study, we evaluated chronic exposure two neonicotinoids, acetamiprid (ACE) clothianidin (CTD), on Caenorhabditis elegans. We used 1, 10, 100, 1000 µM...

BACKGROUND The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is able to take up external double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) and mount an RNA interference response, leading to the inactivation of specific gene expression. The uptake of ingested dsRNAs into intestinal cells has been shown to require the SID-2 transmembrane protein in C. elegans. By contrast, C. briggsae was shown to be naturally insensitive to inge...

Early embryonic cells in Caenorhabditis elegans embryos interact through a signaling pathway closely related to the Notch signaling pathway in Drosophila and vertebrates. Components of this pathway include a ligand, receptor, the presenilin proteins, and a novel protein, APH-2, that is related to the Nicastrin protein in humans. Here we identify the aph-1 gene as a new component of the Notch pa...

Tachykinin-like peptides, such as substance P, neurokinin A, and B, are among the earliest discovered best-studied neuropeptide families, research on them has contributed greatly to our understanding of endocrine control many physiological processes. However, there still orphan tachykinin receptor homologs for which cognate ligands have not yet been identified, especially in small invertebrates...