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Here, Peters et al. report that Pseudomonas fluorescens protects Caenorhabditis elegans against pathogen infection via polyketide synthase-derived sphingolipids, uncovering a non-canonical bacterial sphingolipid synthesis pathway that modulates host metabolism.

SCAPE 2.0 is a versatile imaging platform that enables real-time three-dimensional microscopy of cellular function and dynamic motion in living organisms at over 100 volumes per second with minimal photodamage, and high-throughput structural imaging in fixed, cleared and expanded samples.

Papsdorf et al. show that mono-unsaturated fatty acids extend lifespan of C. elegans through induction of peroxisomes and lipid droplets in fat tissues and of a lipid signature predictive of decreased lipid oxidation.

Using a combination of bioinformatics, biochemistry, genetics, genomics and cell-based approaches, this study shows that the H3–H4 binding capacity of the histone chaperone SPT2 is required to preserve chromatin structure and function in Metazoa.

Chemical screening in C. elegans is limited by the relatively poor target accessibility of small molecules. A systematic survey of drug-like small molecule accumulation and metabolism in C. elegans was used to create a computational tool for preselecting compounds likely to effectively perturb worms.

This protocol details the assembly and use of the wide field-of-view nematode tracking platform (WF-NTP), which enables the simultaneous analysis of thousands of worms with respect to multiple behavioral parameters.

A new species of worm from the early Cambrian period of China may represent the earliest evidence for host-specific infestation in bilaterians.

Protein complexes are essential for cell function. Here, authors show that paired ribosomes can help each other’s nascent chains fold correctly, enabling proper dimer assembly and preventing misfolding, using lamin as a model system.

A map of genome-wide binding locations of 165 human, 93 worm and 52 fly transcription-regulatory factors (almost 50% presented for the first time) from diverse cell types, developmental stages, or conditions reveals that gene-regulatory properties previously observed for individual factors may be general principles of metazoan regulation that are well preserved.

GTPase-activating proteins (GAPs) often contain regulatory PH domains. In this work, Soubias et al, using an integrated structure-function approach, discovered a mechanism where a GAP PH domain binds directly to a GTPase to induce allosteric changes facilitating GTP hydrolysis.

C elegans is a model organism for life span research, and mitochondrial translation has been identified as a key process affecting longevity. Here authors show that the previously identified proteostasis is not the only mechanism that defines longevity induced by mitochondrial translation inhibition, but also C32E8.9-induced lipid remodelling and immune responses.

A metabolically bioactivated selective imidazothiazole nematicide shows comparable effectiveness at controlling plant root infection by Meloidogyne incognita to commercial nematicides, which are traditionally nonselective and toxic.

Acorn worms, or enteropneusts, are a group of hemichordates whose modern representatives are thought to be tubeless. Here Halaynch et al. provide evidence for modern tube-forming acorn worms found in Antarctic benthic communities.

A growing collection of segmented and feature-extracted videos recording locomotive behavior in hundreds of C. elegans mutant strains is made available for phenotyping and further analysis.

Finding one’s way to a food source along a complex gradient is central to survival for many animals. Here, the authors report that in C. elegans, the distinct response dynamics of two sensory neurons to odor gradients can support a navigation model more efficient than the biased-random walk.

The complementary DNA sequence encoding the M_r 28,000 antigen of Schistosoma mansoni has been isolated and expressed in Escherichia coli. Experimental vaccination of rats, hamsters and monkeys with a recombinant fusion protein induces a strongly cytotoxic antibody response. Immunization of rats and hamsters with this protein leads to significant protection against a natural challenge infection with live cercariae.

Measurements in three taxa with the characteristics of vertebrate ancestors (lamprey ammocoetes, amphioxus and acorn worms) suggest that gas exchange at gills has a vertebrate origin, but that ion regulation at gills has an earlier and possibly stem deuterostome origin.

Chromosomes are coated in proteins and RNA called the mitotic chromosome periphery. Here, broadband microrheology analysis has shown that this coat has dynamic, liquid-like properties and provides an external structural constraint.

Anoxia─lack of oxygen─commonly occurs during ischaemic heart disease. Using yeast, worms and mice, Hannich et al. show that anoxia-associated tissue injury and cell death are due to accumulation of a non-canonical sphingolipid, 1-deoxydihydroceramide, that damages the cytoskeleton.

Plant-parasitic nematodes have the potential to destroy crops globally, and limited options for managing nematode infestation are available. Here, the authors report the 1,3,4-oxadiazole thioether scaffold called Cyprocide that selectively kills nematodes including diverse species of plant-parasitic nematodes.

The retreat of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet during the last deglaciation led to the infiltration of seawater into a submarine groundwater system on the Norwegian continental shelf, according to an analysis of groundwater geochemistry on the Norwegian shelf.

Whipworms are large parasites causing chronic disease in humans and other mammals. Here, the authors show how larvae create tunnels inside the gut lining and reveal the early host response to infection via Isg15 in mice and murine caecaloids.

Here, a new type of innate effector leukocyte cell — the nuocyte — is described and characterized. It is shown that interleukin (IL)25 and IL33 drive the expansion of the nuocyte population, that these cells secrete IL13, and that they are required for protection against helminth infection.

Zhu et al. show that disabling the nucleolar FIB-1–NOL-56 complex protects Caenorhabditis elegans from the toxicity of neurodegeneration-linked protein aggregates across tissues by modulating TGFβ signalling and enhancing proteasome activity.

The chronic disease schistosomiasis is caused by the blood flukeSchistosoma mansoni. By studying DNA modifications throughout the lifecycle of the pathogen, the authors identify DNA methylation as a factor in egg development and suggest that the epigenetic machinery responsible may be a therapeutic target.

Developmental plasticity allows organisms to match traits to their environment, however, there are few known molecular mechanisms underlying such plasticity. Here, the authors show that feeding morphs in adult Pristionchus nematodes are set during a critical window in juveniles and identify H4K5/12ac as the environmental information carrier.

A planarian fission protocol shows that the number of progeny and the frequency of fission initiation correlate with parent size, and TGFβ and Wnt signalling components are identified as regulators of fission behaviour.

In this Perspective, the authors consider the distinct contributions made by T helper 2 cells and group 2 innate lymphoid cells during the course of a helminth infection. Although anti-helminth drugs are effective, reinfection is common and there are currently no available vaccines — a better understanding of T helper 2 cell and group 2 innate lymphoid cell interplay could lead to new anti-helminth strategies.

The cellular atlas of Pristina leidyi reveals cell type diversity in adult annelids by single cell transcriptomics, discovering several novel cell types and suggesting a pluripotent stem cell signature associated with adult cell type differentiation

The gut microbiota can alter the effects of anticancer fluoropyrimidines such as 5-fluorodeoxyuridine (FUdR) in the model organism C. elegans. Here, the authors show that these effects are further affected by diet, and dietary thymidine and serine increase FUdR toxicity in C. elegans via different mechanisms.

Specific deletion of group 2 innate lymphoid cells in mice shows these cells have roles in the recruitment of eosinophils and in mounting immune and epithelial type 2 responses.

The authors uncovered an antiparasitic molecule that exhibits broad-spectrum activity against parasitic flukes through engagement of a recently discovered transient receptor potential ion channel.

In this work, Kamal, Knox et al develop a high-throughput system to identify small molecules that disrupt amyloid formation by pre-selecting compounds that suppress molecular interactions within the cuticle of the C. elegans pharynx.

Predators, including prawns, can suppress schistosomiasis by eating snail hosts. This modelling study finds that two prawn species in sub-Saharan Africa can reduce snail hosts and help control schistosomiasis at densities that maximize profits of associated aquaculture—a potential win–win.

Comparative analysis of animal behaviour using locomotion data such as GPS data is difficult because the large amount of data makes it difficult to contrast group differences. Here the authors apply deep learning to detect and highlight trajectories characteristic of a group across scales of millimetres to hundreds of kilometres.

Understanding how DNA bends and stretches provides insight into how the genetic information it contains is expressed. However, the role that the double-helical shape of DNA plays in determining its mechanical properties has not previously been investigated. Now, a model that incorporates DNA’s famous shape provides a better understanding of how the molecule reacts to large forces.

Uniform processing and detailed annotation of human, worm and fly RNA-sequencing data reveal ancient, conserved features of the transcriptome, shared co-expression modules (many enriched in developmental genes), matched expression patterns across development and similar extent of non-canonical, non-coding transcription; furthermore, the data are used to create a single, universal model to predict gene-expression levels for all three organisms from chromatin features at the promoter.

Argonaute proteins are key effectors in the microRNA pathway. Here, the authors show that the conserved peptidase DPF-3 regulates Argonautes in C. elegans, and that loss of dpf-3 restores function and fitness in animals lacking the microRNA Argonaute ALG-1.