Pristionchus pacificus: an appropriate fondness for beetles

jerry submitted, created time 1 month 2 weeks (www.nature.com)

The nematode Pristionchus pacificus associates with one particular beetle and eats its rotting corpse. The report of the genome sequence of P. pacificus, the fifth nematode to be sequenced and a useful secondary nematode genetic model system, highlights genes that may have influenced the route to parasitism.

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Breaking out new ideas on molting

kavin submitted, created time 5 months 2 weeks (www.jcb.org)

Alison Frand believes that understanding the molting process of the nematode worm, C. elegans, might provide new insights into diseases affecting humans. Some of the potential medical benefits lie in the similarities between the worms' exoskeleton and our own skin and connective tissues, while other benefits might lie in the unique aspects of worm molting. Alison Frand is using RNAi, GFP-PEST, and other state-of-the-art tools to study molting in worms.

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Starch serves as carbohydrate storage in nematode-induced syncytia

yangjane submitted, created time 1 year 3 weeks (www.plantphysiol.org)

The plant-parasitic nematode Heterodera schachtii induces specific syncytial feeding sites in the roots of Arabidopsis thaliana from where it withdraws all required nutrients. Therefore, syncytia have to be well supplied with assimilates and generate strong sinks in the host plant's transport system. Import mechanisms and consequent accumulation of sucrose in syncytia were described recently (Hofmann et al., 2007). In the present work we studied the starch metabolism of syncytia. Using HPLC and microscopic analyses we demonstrated that syncytia store carbohydrates by starch accumulation

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