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[
Cell,
2002]
Gene expression in C. elegans germline cells is subject to strict controls. A set of MES proteins, including SET domain proteins and two homologs of Polycomb group proteins, establish an epigenetically transmitted silenced state that affects X chromosome gene expression.
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Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol,
2000]
Cargo molecules have to be included in carrier vesicles of different forms and sizes to be transported between organelles. During this process, a limited set of proteins, including the coat proteins COPI, COPII and clathrin, carries out a programmed set of sequential interactions that lead to the budding of vesicles. A general model to explain the formation of coated vesicles is starting to emerge but the picture is more complex than we had imagined.
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J Leukoc Biol,
1996]
The recognition that apoptosis is regulated by an evolutionarily conserved set of polypeptides from the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans to humans suggests that a conserved set of biochemical mechanisms may also he involved in the response. Work from a number of independent laboratories suggests that alterations in cytosolic Ca2+ homeostasis represent one such candidate mechanism, and molecular targets for Ca2+ are now being identified. This review will summarize what is known about the role of Ca2+ in the regulation of apoptosis and discuss how Ca2+ might interact with some of the other biochemical signals implicated in cell death.
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Curr Biol,
2001]
Following the completion of the genome sequence of Caenorhabditis elegans, four independent studies have now assessed the functions of more than a third of the worm's genes by analysing the phenotypes caused when each of a large set of genes is inactivated by RNA interference.
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Cell Mol Life Sci,
2010]
The Caenorhabditis elegans one-cell embryo is a powerful system in which to study microtubule organization because this large cell assembles both meiotic and mitotic spindles within the same cytoplasm over the course of 1 h in a stereotypical manner. The fertilized oocyte assembles two consecutive acentrosomal meiotic spindles that function to reduce the replicated maternal diploid set of chromosomes to a single-copy haploid set. The resulting maternal DNA then unites with the paternal DNA to form a zygotic diploid complement, around which a centrosome-based mitotic spindle forms. The early C. elegans embryo is amenable to live-cell imaging and electron tomography, permitting a detailed structural comparison of the meiotic and mitotic modes of spindle assembly.
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WormBook,
2005]
The C. elegans germ line proliferates from one primordial germ cell (PGC) set aside in the early embryo to over a thousand cells in the adult. Most germline proliferation is controlled by the somatic distal tip cell, which provides a stem cell niche at the distal end of the adult gonad. The distal tip cell signals to the germ line via the Notch signaling pathway, which in turn controls a network of RNA regulators. The FBF-1 and FBF-2 RNA-binding proteins promote continued mitoses in germ cells located close to the distal tip cell, while the GLD-1 , GLD-2 , GLD-3 , and NOS-3 RNA regulators promote entry into meiosis as germ cells leave the stem cell niche. In addition to these key regulators, many other genes affect germline proliferation.
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Bioessays,
2000]
With the extensive amount of information generated by genome-wide sequencing, the entire set of gene products in an organism can now be predicted. The challenge of understanding the function of each gene in the genome has led to the development of many large-scale and high-throughput experimental techniques. Recently, two papers, Walhout et al.(1) and Uetz et al.,(2) have described studies that add a new functional dimension to research conducted on a genome-wide scale. These two groups have utilized the yeast two-hybrid system to identify interactions among the entire complement of proteins encoded by the Caenorhabditis elegans and the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genomes, respectively. Using a set of 29 genes that have been previously characterized, Walhout et al. demonstrated the feasibility and efficiency of this technique by building an interaction matrix among a large number of proteins. On an even larger scale, Uetz et al. conducted two-hybrid analyses using proteins that represent over 87% of the total gene products in yeast and identified interactions for about 15% of the total yeast proteins. BioEssays 22:503-506, 2000.
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Cells,
2020]
Meiosis is a key event in the manufacturing of an oocyte. During this process, the oocyte creates a set of unique chromosomes by recombining paternal and maternal copies of homologous chromosomes, and by eliminating one set of chromosomes to become haploid. While meiosis is conserved among sexually reproducing eukaryotes, there is a bewildering diversity of strategies among species, and sometimes within sexes of the same species, to achieve proper segregation of chromosomes. Here, we review the very first steps of meiosis in females, when the maternal and paternal copies of each homologous chromosomes have to move, find each other and pair. We explore the similarities and differences observed in <i>C. elegans</i>, <i>Drosophila</i>, zebrafish and mouse females.
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Cell Cycle,
2009]
The oxidative damage theory of aging once seemed almost proven. Yet recently the buzzards have been assembling in the blue skies above it. New challenges to the theory from work using nematode worms seem set to bring them down to peck at its bones. But is the theory really dead, or does it just need to be modified?
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Trends in Genetics,
1987]
Suppressor mutations (both dominant and recessive) are easily obtained in Caenorhabditis elegans, as a result of efficient selection methods and the ability to grow large populations by self-fertilization. Several different genetic phenomena are revealed by the study of suppression. A set of five amber suppressors is being used to analyse a family of tRNA genes.