Biology and genome of a newly discovered sibling species of Caenorhabditis elegans.

A 'sibling' species of the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans has long been sought for use in comparative analyses that would enable deep evolutionary interpretations of biological phenomena. Here, we describe the first sibling species of C. elegans, C.

Transgenesis by microparticle bombardment for live imaging of fluorescent proteins in Pristionchus pacificus germline and early embryos.

Pristionchus pacificus is a free-living nematode used as a model organism for evolutionary developmental and ecological biology. Although a transgenic technique to form complex arrays by microinjection has been established in P. pacificus, transgene expression from the array in the germline and early embryos tends to be silenced.

Caenorhabditis elegans Aurora A kinase is required for the formation of spindle microtubules in female meiosis.

In many animals, female meiotic spindles are assembled in the absence of centrosomes, the major microtubule (MT)-organizing centers. How MTs are formed and organized into meiotic spindles is poorly understood. Here we report that, in Caenorhabditis elegans, Aurora A kinase/AIR-1 is required for the formation of spindle microtubules during female meiosis.

Yersinia enterocolitica serovar O:8 infection in breeding monkeys in Japan.

In the period from December 2002 to January 2003, 5 of 50 squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) housed at a Zoological Garden in the Kanto region of Japan died following a few days' history of diarrhea. After this outbreak had ended in the squirrel monkeys, 1 of 2 dark-handed gibbons (Hylobates agilis) died in April of 2003, showing similar clinical signs. We examined the organs of 3 of the dead squirrel monkeys and of the dark-handed gibbon, and Yersinia enterocolitica serovar O:8, which is the most pathogenic serovar of Y.