Fire A et al. (1994) Worm Breeder's Gazette "Vectorology I: New lacZ Vectors (Building a Better Gene Trap)."

Xu SQ, Fire A

[Worm Breeder's Gazette, 1994]

Vectorology I: New lacZ vectors ("building a better gene trap") Andrew Fire and SiQun Xu Carnegie Institution of Washington, Baltimore, Md 21210

Braukmann F et al. (2017) RNA Biol "Artificial and natural RNA interactions between bacteria and C. elegans."

Jordan D, Braukmann F, Miska E

[RNA Biol, 2017]

19years after Lisa Timmons and Andy Fire first described RNA transfer from bacteria to C. elegans in an experimental setting [Timmons and Fire, 1998 ] the biological role of this trans-kingdom RNA-based communication remains unknown. Here we summarize our current understanding on the mechanism and potential role of such social RNA.

Mehra A et al. (1994) Worm Breeder's Gazette "Direct Interaction Between FEM-3 and a Carboxy-Terminal Fragment of TRA-2A"

Spence AM, Kuwabara PE, Mehra A, Heck L

[Worm Breeder's Gazette, 1994]

Direct Interaction between FEM-3 and a Carboxy-Terminal Fragment Or TRA-2A Arun Mehra, Linda Heck, Patricia Kuwabara*, and Andrew Spence Dept. of Medical Genetics, University of Toronto, 1 King's College Circle, Toronto, Canada, and *MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Hills Rd., Cambridge, UK

Seydoux GC et al. (1994) Worm Breeder's Gazette "pes-10 RNA and Protein Are Expressed Transiently in Each Somatic Lineage in the Pre-Gastrulation Embryo"

Seydoux GC, Fire A

[Worm Breeder's Gazette, 1994]

pes-10 RNA and protein are expressed transiently in each somatic lineage in the pre-gastrulation embryo Geraldine Seydoux and Andy Fire. Carnegie Instituhon, Baltimore MD 21210.

Mello, Cecilia C. et al. (2011) International Worm Meeting "Spontaneous and UV-induced mutations in a small region of the C. elegans genome, the ben-1 locus."

Fire, Andrew, Mello, Cecilia C.

[International Worm Meeting, 2011]

What is the spectrum of spontaneous mutations? How are mutation spectra altered in the presence of strong mutagens? To answer these questions, I used a powerful screen for isolating both spontaneous and induced mutations using the ben-1 gene, a non-essential beta-tubulin. Wild-type animals are sensitive to paralysis upon benomyl treatment, ben-1 mutants are resistant. This work of spontaneous and UV-induced mutations gives us a baseline for further studies. The strength of this approach is that it focuses mutations in a small region of the genome, allowing for a detailed analysis. This one locus does not offer a complete view of the genome, and I intend to expand this analysis into larger regions of the genome.

Fire A et al. (1997) Worm Breeder's Gazette "FireLab 1997 Vector Supplement"

Fire A, Xu SQ

[Worm Breeder's Gazette, 1997]

We are preparing a supplementary vector kit for release February 1 1997. If you are interested in obtaining these kits or documentation concerning their use, please email us (fire@mail1.ciwemb.edu), and we will return the relevant release forms. The 1997 supplementary kit contains the following goodies:

Wendy Wong et al. (2006) European Worm Meeting "The Integrative Interaction Map for Caenorhabditis elegans"

Andrew Fraser, Wendy Wong

[European Worm Meeting, 2006]

. Wendy Wong and Andrew Fraser. C. elegans is a popular model system for the systematic analysis. However, relatively little is known for its networks of genetic interactions. We hereby construct an integrative interaction map for C. elegans by integrating diverse functional genomics Datasets. We will also present some of the novel tools in querying the interaction map for answering powerful biological hypotheses.

Artiles, Karen et al. (2021) International Worm Meeting "A tool for warp speed genetics in C. elegans"

Frokjaer-Jensen, Christian, Artiles, Karen, Fire, Andrew

[International Worm Meeting, 2021]

What if we could rapidly and reliably homozygose every locus in the C. elegans genome during genetic manipulations? What if we could combine the full nuclear information from one C. elegans strain with cytoplasmic contents from a second strain? We can do both, and it is remarkably easy! Besseling and Bringmann (2016) identified a molecular intervention for C. elegans in which premature segregation of maternal and paternal chromosomes in the fertilized oocyte can produce viable animals exhibiting a non-Mendelian inheritance pattern. Overexpression in embryos of a single protein regulating chromosome segregation (GPR-1) provides a germline derived clonally from a single parental gamete. We present a collection of strains and cytological assays to consistently generate and track non-Mendelian inheritance. These tools allow reproducible and high-frequency (>80%) production of non-Mendelian inheritance, the facile and simultaneous homozygosis for all nuclear chromosomes in a single generation, the precise exchange of nuclear and mitochondrial genomes between strains, and the assessments of non-canonical mitosis events.

Ramakrishnan*, Sreejith et al. (2015) International Worm Meeting "Analyzing DNA organization during meiotic chromosome pairing."

Gabdank*, Idan, Fire, Andrew, Villeneuve, Anne, Ramakrishnan*, Sreejith

[International Worm Meeting, 2015]

The ability of homologous chromosomes to locate, recognize and align with their correct pairing partners has long been recognized as a hallmark feature of meiosis, yet the nature of the interactions between homologs and the basis of homolog recognition are still very poorly understood. One reason that the nature of homolog recognition has remained mysterious is our current very limited knowledge regarding both the intra-chromosomal organization of DNA within meiotic prophase chromosomes and the spatial relationships between homologs of DNA segments not engaged in recombination. Our ability to understand the basis of inter-homolog interactions during meiotic prophase should be substantially augmented by an improved understanding of how DNA sequences are organized within the structures that we can observe cytologically. Our goal is to use Hi-C technology to fill two major gaps in our knowledge of meiotic prophase chromosome organization: 1) how DNA is organized in the context of fully aligned homologs, and 2) how DNA is organized within chromosomes during the stage when homolog interactions are being established. Several features of C. elegans make it well-suited for using Hi-C technology to investigate chromosome organization during meiotic prophase, including a high abundance of germline nuclei in adult worms and robust tools for cytological validation of Hi-C data. We are currently developing and optimizing approaches to enrich for DNA from meiotic prophase germ cells, including flow-cytometric sorting of germline nuclei expressing GFP-tagged meiotic proteins. In parallel, we have conducted a pilot Hi-C analysis using whole C. elegans adults as our starting material. Following mechanical disruption of worms, crosslinking, DNA junction capturing, and high-throughput sequencing, we have used a computational pipeline to generate preliminary heatmaps of DNA interactions. These maps show characteristic signatures of individual chromosomes, providing internal validation of the protocol and indicating overall feasibility of our approach. We are currently revising the protocol using modifications designed to better preserve the in vivo architecture of DNA within the nuclei and to allow us to investigate DNA interactions at a higher resolution.

Satyal P et al. (2013) Nat Prod Commun "Bioactivities and compositional analyses of Cinnamomum essential oils from Nepal: C. camphora, C. tamala, and C. glaucescens."

Paudel P, Pokharel KK, Dosoky NS, Setzer WN, Poudel A, Satyal P

[Nat Prod Commun, 2013]

This work examines the biological activity of essential oils of Cinnamomum camphora leaves, C. glaucescens fruit, and C. tamala root from Nepal. The oils were screened for phytotoxic activity against lettuce and perennial ryegrass, brine shrimp lethality, and antibacterial, antifungal, cytotoxic, insecticidal, and nematicidal activities. C. camphora leaf essential oil was phytotoxic to lettuce, antifungal to Aspergillus niger, and insecticidal, particularly toward midge and butterfly larvae, fruit flies, and fire ants. C. camphora oil was also toxic to brine shrimp and human breast tumor cells. C. glaucescens fruit essential oil showed notable nematicidal activity, as well as termiticidal and mosquito larvicidal activity. The root essential oil of C. tamala was toxic to mosquito larvae and fire ants.