EYA-1 is required for genomic integrity independent of H2AX signalling in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Background: Resolving genomic insults is essential for the survival of any species. In the case of eukaryotes, several pathways comprise the DNA damage repair network, and many components have high evolutionary conservation. These pathways ensure that DNA damage is resolved which prevents disease associated mutations from occurring in a de novo manner.

Oogenesis in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Background: The nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans has proven itself as a valuable model for investigating metazoan biology. C. elegans have a transparent body, an invariant cell lineage, and a high level of genetic conservation which makes it a desirable model organism.

A High-Throughput Phenotypic Screen of the 'Pandemic Response Box' Identifies a Quinoline Derivative with Significant Anthelmintic Activity.

Parasitic nematodes cause diseases in livestock animals and major economic losses to the agricultural industry worldwide. Nematodes of the order Strongylida, including , are particularly important. The excessive use of anthelmintic compounds to treat infections and disease has led to widespread resistance to these compounds in nematodes, such that there is a need for new anthelmintics with distinctive mechanisms of action.

Natural Products Are a Promising Source for Anthelmintic Drug Discovery.

Parasitic nematodes infect almost all forms of life. In the human context, parasites are one of the major causative factors for physical and intellectual growth retardation in the developing world. In the agricultural setting, parasites have a great economic impact through a reduction in livestock performance or control cost.

Practical High-Throughput Method to Screen Compounds for Anthelmintic Activity against .

In the present study, we established a practical and cost-effective high throughput screening assay, which relies on the measurement of the motility of by infrared light-interference. Using this assay, we screened 14,400 small molecules from the "HitFinder" library (Maybridge), achieving a hit rate of 0.3%.

Mate choice, reproductive success and inbreeding in white rhinoceros: New insights for conservation management.

Improving our sparse knowledge of the mating and reproductive behaviour of white rhinoceros ( Burchell, 1817) is essential for the effective conservation of this iconic species. By combining morphological, physiological and habitat data with paternity assignments of 104 known mother-offspring pairs collected over a period of 13 years, we provide the most comprehensive analysis of the mating system in this species. We show that while the overall mating system was promiscuous, and both males and females produced more offspring when mating with several partners, half of all females with multiple offspring were monogamous.

Distinct roles of two eIF4E isoforms in the germline of .

Germ cells use both positive and negative mRNA translational control to regulate gene expression that drives their differentiation into gametes. mRNA translational control is mediated by RNA-binding proteins, miRNAs and translation initiation factors. We have uncovered the discrete roles of two translation initiation factor eIF4E isoforms (IFE-1, IFE-3) that bind 7-methylguanosine (m7G) mRNA caps during germline development.

Zinc transporters maintain longevity by influencing insulin/IGF-1 activity in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Adequate dietary intake of essential metals such as zinc is important for maintaining homeostasis. Abnormal zinc intake in Caenorhabditis elegans has been shown to increase or decrease normal lifespan by influencing the insulin/IGF-1 pathway. Distribution of zinc is achieved by a family of highly conserved zinc transport proteins (ZIPT in C.

3'-UTRs and the Control of Protein Expression in Space and Time.

The noncoding elements of an mRNA influence multiple aspects of its fate. For example, 3'-UTRs serve as physical and sequence-based information hubs that direct the time, place, and level of translation of the protein encoded in cis, but often also have additional roles in trans. Understanding the information content of 3'-UTRs has been a challenge.

WormCat: An Online Tool for Annotation and Visualization of Genome-Scale Data.

The emergence of large gene expression datasets has revealed the need for improved tools to identify enriched gene categories and visualize enrichment patterns. While gene ontogeny (GO) provides a valuable tool for gene set enrichment analysis, it has several limitations. First, it is difficult to graph multiple GO analyses for comparison.

Transcriptional alterations in Caenorhabditis elegans following exposure to an anthelmintic fraction of the plant Picria fel-terrae Lour.

Background: Natural compounds from plants are known to provide a source of anthelmintic molecules. In previous studies, we have shown that plant extracts from the plant Picria fel-terrae Lour. and particular fractions thereof have activity against the free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, causing quite pronounced stress responses in this nematode.

The TRIM-NHL protein NHL-2 is a co-factor in the nuclear and somatic RNAi pathways in . e.

Proper regulation of germline gene expression is essential for fertility and maintaining species integrity. In the germline, a diverse repertoire of regulatory pathways promote the expression of endogenous germline genes and limit the expression of deleterious transcripts to maintain genome homeostasis. Here we show that the conserved TRIM-NHL protein, NHL-2, plays an essential role in the germline, modulating germline chromatin and meiotic chromosome organization.

Chromatin Modifiers SET-25 and SET-32 Are Required for Establishment but Not Long-Term Maintenance of Transgenerational Epigenetic Inheritance.

Some epigenetic modifications are inherited from one generation to the next, providing a potential mechanism for the inheritance of environmentally acquired traits. Transgenerational inheritance of RNAi phenotypes in Caenorhabditis elegans provides an excellent model to study this phenomenon, and although studies have implicated both chromatin modifications and small RNA pathways in heritable silencing, their relative contributions remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that the putative histone methyltransferases SET-25 and SET-32 are required for establishment of a transgenerational silencing signal but not for long-term maintenance of this signal between subsequent generations, suggesting that transgenerational epigenetic inheritance is a multi-step process with distinct genetic requirements for establishment and maintenance of heritable silencing.

The Mitochondrial GTPase Gem1 Contributes to the Cell Wall Stress Response and Invasive Growth of .

The interactions of mitochondria with the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) are crucial for maintaining proper mitochondrial morphology, function and dynamics. This enables cells to utilize their mitochondria optimally for energy production and anabolism, and it further provides for metabolic control over developmental decisions. In fungi, a key mechanism by which ER and mitochondria interact is via a membrane tether, the protein complex ERMES (ER-Mitochondria Encounter Structure).

Automated three-dimensional reconstruction of the Caenorhabditis elegans germline.

The Caenorhabditis elegans germline is widely used as a model to study stem cell development, chromosome dynamics and apoptosis. Major readouts of germline phenotypes such as cell counting and protein expression profiling are routinely analyzed manually and in a two-dimensional manner. The major disadvantages of the existing approaches are 1) they are time-consuming and laborious and 2) there is an inability to study the effects of genetic mutations in three dimensions.

Exploring Potential Germline-Associated Roles of the TRIM-NHL Protein NHL-2 Through RNAi Screening.

TRIM-NHL proteins are highly conserved regulators of developmental pathways in vertebrates and invertebrates. The TRIM-NHL family member NHL-2 in functions as a miRNA cofactor to regulate developmental timing. Similar regulatory roles have been reported in other model systems, with the mammalian ortholog in mice, TRIM32, contributing to muscle and neuronal cell proliferation via miRNA activity.

LIN-41 and OMA Ribonucleoprotein Complexes Mediate a Translational Repression-to-Activation Switch Controlling Oocyte Meiotic Maturation and the Oocyte-to-Embryo Transition in .

An extended meiotic prophase is a hallmark of oogenesis. Hormonal signaling activates the CDK1/cyclin B kinase to promote oocyte meiotic maturation, which involves nuclear and cytoplasmic events. Nuclear maturation encompasses nuclear envelope breakdown, meiotic spindle assembly, and chromosome segregation.

Metabolic profiling and in vitro assessment of anthelmintic fractions of Picria fel-terrae Lour.

Anthelmintic resistance is widespread in gastrointestinal nematode populations, such that there is a consistent need to search for new anthelmintics. However, the cost of screening for new compounds is high and has a very low success rate. Using the knowledge of traditional healers from Borneo Rainforests (Sarawak, Malaysia), we have previously shown that some traditional medicinal plants are a rich source of potential new anthelmintic drug candidates.

Genetic connectivity across marginal habitats: the elephants of the Namib Desert.

Locally isolated populations in marginal habitats may be genetically distinctive and of heightened conservation concern. Elephants inhabiting the Namib Desert have been reported to show distinctive behavioral and phenotypic adaptations in that severely arid environment. The genetic distinctiveness of Namibian desert elephants relative to other African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana) populations has not been established.

Correction: Investigating the Role of RIO Protein Kinases in Caenorhabditis elegans.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Anthelmintic activity of selected ethno-medicinal plant extracts on parasitic stages of Haemonchus contortus.

Background: Parasitic roundworms (nematodes) cause substantial morbidity and mortality in livestock animals globally, and considerable productivity losses to farmers. The control of these nematodes has relied largely on the use of a limited number of anthelmintics. However, resistance to many of these these anthelmintics is now widespread, and, therefore, there is a need to find new drugs to ensure sustained and effective treatment and control into the future.

Phylogenomic and biogeographic reconstruction of the Trichinella complex.

Trichinellosis is a globally important food-borne parasitic disease of humans caused by roundworms of the Trichinella complex. Extensive biological diversity is reflected in substantial ecological and genetic variability within and among Trichinella taxa, and major controversy surrounds the systematics of this complex. Here we report the sequencing and assembly of 16 draft genomes representing all 12 recognized Trichinella species and genotypes, define protein-coding gene sets and assess genetic differences among these taxa.

Defining the Schistosoma haematobium kinome enables the prediction of essential kinases as anti-schistosome drug targets.

The blood fluke Schistosoma haematobium causes urogenital schistosomiasis, a neglected tropical disease (NTD) that affects more than 110 million people. Treating this disease by targeted or mass administration with a single chemical, praziquantel, carries the risk that drug resistance will develop in this pathogen. Therefore, there is an imperative to search for new drug targets in S.

PAT-seq: a method to study the integration of 3'-UTR dynamics with gene expression in the eukaryotic transcriptome.

A major objective of systems biology is to quantitatively integrate multiple parameters from genome-wide measurements. To integrate gene expression with dynamics in poly(A) tail length and adenylation site, we developed a targeted next-generation sequencing approach, Poly(A)-Test RNA-sequencing. PAT-seq returns (i) digital gene expression, (ii) polyadenylation site/s, and (iii) the polyadenylation-state within and between eukaryotic transcriptomes.

Flatworms have lost the right open reading frame kinase 3 gene during evolution.

All multicellular organisms studied to date have three right open reading frame kinase genes (designated riok-1, riok-2 and riok-3). Current evidence indicates that riok-1 and riok-2 have essential roles in ribosome biosynthesis, and that the riok-3 gene assists this process. In the present study, we conducted a detailed bioinformatic analysis of the riok gene family in 25 parasitic flatworms (platyhelminths) for which extensive genomic and transcriptomic data sets are available.