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Perier JD, Kaplan F, Lewis EE, Alborn H, Schliekelman P, Toews MD, Schiller KC, Shapiro-Ilan DI. Enhancing entomopathogenic nematode efficacy with Pheromones: A field study targeting the pecan weevil. J Invertebr Pathol 2024; 203:108070. [PMID: 38311231 DOI: 10.1016/j.jip.2024.108070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2023] [Revised: 01/17/2024] [Accepted: 01/19/2024] [Indexed: 02/10/2024]
Abstract
Consistent efficacy is required for entomopathogenic nematodes to gain wider adoption as biocontrol agents. Recently, we demonstrated that when exposed to nematode pheromone blends, entomopathogenic nematodes showed increased dispersal, infectivity, and efficacy under laboratory and greenhouse conditions. Prior to this study, the impact of entomopathogenic nematode-pheromone combinations on field efficacy had yet to be studied. Steinernema feltiae is a commercially available entomopathogenic nematode that has been shown to increase mortality in insect pests such as the pecan weevil Curculio caryae. In this study, the pecan weevil was used as a model system to evaluate changes in S. feltiae efficacy when treated with a partially purified ascaroside pheromone blend. Following exposure to the pheromone blend, the efficacy of S. feltiae significantly increased as measured with decreased C. caryae survival despite unfavorable environmental conditions. The results of this study highlight a potential new avenue for using entomopathogenic nematodes in field conditions. With increased efficacy, using entomopathogenic nematodes will reduce reliance on conventional management methods in pecan production, translating into more environmentally acceptable practices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jermaine D Perier
- Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, Tifton, GA 31793, United States
| | - Fatma Kaplan
- Pheronym, Inc., Woodland, CA 95695, United States
| | - Edwin E Lewis
- Department of Entomology, Plant Pathology and Nematology, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844, United States
| | - Hans Alborn
- USDA-ARS, Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology, Gainesville, FL 32608, United States
| | - Paul Schliekelman
- Department of Statistics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, United States
| | - Michael D Toews
- Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, Tifton, GA 31793, United States
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2
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Yu Y, Zhang YK, Manohar M, Artyukhin AB, Kumari A, Tenjo-Castano FJ, Nguyen H, Routray P, Choe A, Klessig DF, Schroeder FC. Nematode Signaling Molecules Are Extensively Metabolized by Animals, Plants, and Microorganisms. ACS Chem Biol 2021; 16:1050-1058. [PMID: 34019369 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.1c00217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Many bacterivorous and parasitic nematodes secrete signaling molecules called ascarosides that play a central role regulating their behavior and development. Combining stable-isotope labeling and mass spectrometry-based comparative metabolomics, here we show that ascarosides are taken up from the environment and metabolized by a wide range of phyla, including plants, fungi, bacteria, and mammals, as well as nematodes. In most tested eukaryotes and some bacteria, ascarosides are metabolized into derivatives with shortened fatty acid side chains, analogous to ascaroside biosynthesis in nematodes. In plants and C. elegans, labeled ascarosides were additionally integrated into larger, modular metabolites, and use of different ascaroside stereoisomers revealed the stereospecificity of their biosynthesis. The finding that nematodes extensively metabolize ascarosides taken up from the environment suggests that pheromone editing may play a role in conspecific and interspecific interactions. Moreover, our results indicate that plants, animals, and microorganisms may interact with associated nematodes via manipulation of ascaroside signaling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan Yu
- Boyce Thompson Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
| | - Ying K. Zhang
- Boyce Thompson Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
| | - Murli Manohar
- Boyce Thompson Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
| | - Alexander B. Artyukhin
- Chemistry Department, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York, Syracuse, New York 13210, United States
| | - Anshu Kumari
- Boyce Thompson Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
| | | | - Hung Nguyen
- Holoclara, Inc., Pasadena, California 91101, United States
| | - Pratyush Routray
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
| | - Andrea Choe
- Holoclara, Inc., Pasadena, California 91101, United States
| | - Daniel F. Klessig
- Boyce Thompson Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
| | - Frank C. Schroeder
- Boyce Thompson Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States
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3
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Dong C, Weadick CJ, Truffault V, Sommer RJ. Convergent evolution of small molecule pheromones in Pristionchus nematodes. eLife 2020; 9:55687. [PMID: 32338597 PMCID: PMC7224695 DOI: 10.7554/elife.55687] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2020] [Accepted: 04/24/2020] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The small molecules that mediate chemical communication between nematodes-so-called 'nematode-derived-modular-metabolites' (NDMMs)-are of major interest because of their ability to regulate development, behavior, and life-history. Pristionchus pacificus nematodes produce an impressive diversity of structurally complex NDMMs, some of which act as primer pheromones that are capable of triggering irreversible developmental switches. Many of these NDMMs have only ever been found in P. pacificus but no attempts have been made to study their evolution by profiling closely related species. This study brings a comparative perspective to the biochemical study of NDMMs through the systematic MS/MS- and NMR-based analysis of exo-metabolomes from over 30 Pristionchus species. We identified 36 novel compounds and found evidence for the convergent evolution of complex NDMMs in separate branches of the Pristionchus phylogeny. Our results demonstrate that biochemical innovation is a recurrent process in Pristionchus nematodes, a pattern that is probably typical across the animal kingdom.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chuanfu Dong
- Department for Integrative Evolutionary Biology, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Cameron J Weadick
- Department of Biosciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
| | | | - Ralf J Sommer
- Department for Integrative Evolutionary Biology, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen, Germany
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4
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Rödelsperger C, Athanasouli M, Lenuzzi M, Theska T, Sun S, Dardiry M, Wighard S, Hu W, Sharma DR, Han Z. Crowdsourcing and the feasibility of manual gene annotation: A pilot study in the nematode Pristionchus pacificus. Sci Rep 2019; 9:18789. [PMID: 31827189 PMCID: PMC6906410 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-55359-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2019] [Accepted: 11/20/2019] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Nematodes such as Caenorhabditis elegans are powerful systems to study basically all aspects of biology. Their species richness together with tremendous genetic knowledge from C. elegans facilitate the evolutionary study of biological functions using reverse genetics. However, the ability to identify orthologs of candidate genes in other species can be hampered by erroneous gene annotations. To improve gene annotation in the nematode model organism Pristionchus pacificus, we performed a genome-wide screen for C. elegans genes with potentially incorrectly annotated P. pacificus orthologs. We initiated a community-based project to manually inspect more than two thousand candidate loci and to propose new gene models based on recently generated Iso-seq and RNA-seq data. In most cases, misannotation of C. elegans orthologs was due to artificially fused gene predictions and completely missing gene models. The community-based curation raised the gene count from 25,517 to 28,036 and increased the single copy ortholog completeness level from 86% to 97%. This pilot study demonstrates how even small-scale crowdsourcing can drastically improve gene annotations. In future, similar approaches can be used for other species, gene sets, and even larger communities thus making manual annotation of large parts of the genome feasible.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Rödelsperger
- Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Department for Integrative Evolutionary Biology, Max-Planck-Ring 9, 72076, Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Marina Athanasouli
- Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Department for Integrative Evolutionary Biology, Max-Planck-Ring 9, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Maša Lenuzzi
- Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Department for Integrative Evolutionary Biology, Max-Planck-Ring 9, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Tobias Theska
- Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Department for Integrative Evolutionary Biology, Max-Planck-Ring 9, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Shuai Sun
- Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Department for Integrative Evolutionary Biology, Max-Planck-Ring 9, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Mohannad Dardiry
- Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Department for Integrative Evolutionary Biology, Max-Planck-Ring 9, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Sara Wighard
- Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Department for Integrative Evolutionary Biology, Max-Planck-Ring 9, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Wen Hu
- Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Department for Integrative Evolutionary Biology, Max-Planck-Ring 9, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Devansh Raj Sharma
- Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Department for Integrative Evolutionary Biology, Max-Planck-Ring 9, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Ziduan Han
- Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Department for Integrative Evolutionary Biology, Max-Planck-Ring 9, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
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Artyukhin AB, Zhang YK, Akagi AE, Panda O, Sternberg PW, Schroeder FC. Metabolomic "Dark Matter" Dependent on Peroxisomal β-Oxidation in Caenorhabditis elegans. J Am Chem Soc 2018; 140:2841-2852. [PMID: 29401383 PMCID: PMC5890438 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.7b11811] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
Peroxisomal β-oxidation (pβo) is a highly conserved fat metabolism pathway involved in the biosynthesis of diverse signaling molecules in animals and plants. In Caenorhabditis elegans, pβo is required for the biosynthesis of the ascarosides, signaling molecules that control development, lifespan, and behavior in this model organism. Via comparative mass spectrometric analysis of pβo mutants and wildtype, we show that pβo in C. elegans and the satellite model P. pacificus contributes to life stage-specific biosynthesis of several hundred previously unknown metabolites. The pβo-dependent portion of the metabolome is unexpectedly diverse, e.g., intersecting with nucleoside and neurotransmitter metabolism. Cell type-specific restoration of pβo in pβo-defective mutants further revealed that pβo-dependent submetabolomes differ between tissues. These results suggest that interactions of fat, nucleoside, and other primary metabolism pathways can generate structural diversity reminiscent of that arising from combinatorial strategies in microbial natural product biosynthesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander B. Artyukhin
- Boyce Thompson Institute and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
| | - Ying K. Zhang
- Boyce Thompson Institute and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
| | - Allison E. Akagi
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
| | - Oishika Panda
- Boyce Thompson Institute and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
| | - Paul W. Sternberg
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
| | - Frank C. Schroeder
- Boyce Thompson Institute and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
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Bennuru S, Lustigman S, Abraham D, Nutman TB. Metabolite profiling of infection-associated metabolic markers of onchocerciasis. Mol Biochem Parasitol 2017; 215:58-69. [PMID: 28188804 PMCID: PMC5474354 DOI: 10.1016/j.molbiopara.2017.01.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2017] [Revised: 01/25/2017] [Accepted: 01/28/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The global efforts for onchocerciasis elimination may require additional tools (safe micro and macrofilaricidal drugs, vaccines and biomarkers) as elimination efforts move toward the "end game". Efforts toward the identification of suitable biomarkers have focused on specific protein(s) and/or nucleic acids, but metabolites present an alternative option as they have limited half-lives and are the result of combinatorial effects. In comparison to previously used methodology of LC-MS for metabolomic approaches, we used a non-targeted capillary electrophoresis time-of-flight mass spectrometry (CE-TOFMS) to analyze the serum metabolic profiles of Ov-infected and -uninfected individuals (n=20). We identified 286 known metabolites (167 in the cation mode and 119 in the anion mode). In addition, putative metabolites were identified based on KEGG (51), HMDB (37) and HMT (6) databases. One hundred ten of these putative metabolites were quantified based on peak areas of internal standards and their ability to be mapped to known pathways (primary-, carbon-, lipid-, amino acid-, nucleotide and coenzyme-metabolism). Multivariate analysis demonstrated clustering and segregation of some of these metabolites to either the infected or control groups. The levels of serotonin, hypoxanthine, pipecolic acid and inosine were significantly elevated in those with onchocerciasis, whereas the levels of glycerophosphocholine, choline and adenine were significantly lower. This non-targeted metabolomic approach provides a global view of the metabolic variations that occur during Ov infection and thus allow the discovery of key metabolites (and associated pathways) that may serve as useful biomarkers in human onchocerciasis.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Thomas B Nutman
- Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, NIAID, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
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7
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Small-molecule pheromones and hormones controlling nematode development. Nat Chem Biol 2017; 13:577-586. [PMID: 28514418 DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.2356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2016] [Accepted: 02/15/2017] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The existence of small-molecule signals that influence development in Caenorhabditis elegans has been known for several decades, but only in recent years have the chemical structures of several of these signals been established. The identification of these signals has enabled connections to be made between these small molecules and fundamental signaling pathways in C. elegans that influence not only development but also metabolism, fertility, and lifespan. Spurred by these important discoveries and aided by recent advances in comparative metabolomics and NMR spectroscopy, the field of nematode chemistry has the potential to expand dramatically in the coming years. This Perspective will focus on small-molecule pheromones and hormones that influence developmental events in the nematode life cycle (ascarosides, dafachronic acids, and nemamides), will cover more recent work regarding the biosynthesis of these signals, and will explore how the discovery of these signals is transforming our understanding of nematode development and physiology.
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8
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Abstract
The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans produces tens, if not hundreds, of different ascarosides as pheromones to communicate with other members of its species. Overlapping mixtures of these pheromones affect the development of the worm and a variety of different behaviors. The ascarosides represent a unique tool for dissecting the neural circuitry that controls behavior and that connects to important signaling pathways, such as the insulin and TGFβ pathways, that lie at the nexus of development, metabolism, and lifespan in C. elegans. However, the exact physiological roles of many of the ascarosides are unclear, especially since many of these pheromones likely have multiple functions depending on their concentrations, the presence of other pheromones, and a variety of other factors. Determining these physiological roles will be facilitated by top-down approaches to characterize the pheromone receptors and their function, as well as bottom-up approaches to characterize the pheromone biosynthetic enzymes and their regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca A Butcher
- University of Florida, Department of Chemistry, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
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9
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Choi YJ, Chang SJ, Gibala KS, Resendiz MJE. 8-Oxo-7,8-dihydroadenine and 8-Oxo-7,8-dihydroadenosine-Chemistry, Structure, and Function in RNA and Their Presence in Natural Products and Potential Drug Derivatives. Chemistry 2017; 23:6706-6716. [PMID: 27960050 DOI: 10.1002/chem.201605163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2016] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
A description and history of the role that 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroadenine (8-oxoAde) and 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroadenosine (8-oxoA) have in various fields has been compiled. This Review focusses on 1) the formation of this oxidatively generated modification in RNA, its interactions with other biopolymers, and its potential role in the development/progression of disease; 2) the independent synthesis and incorporation of this modified nucleoside into oligonucleotides of RNA to display the progress that has been made in establishing its behavior in biologically relevant systems; 3) reported synthetic routes, which date back to 1890, along with the progress that has been made in the total synthesis of the nucleobase, nucleoside, and their corresponding derivatives; and 4) the isolation, total synthesis, and biological activity of natural products containing these moieties as the backbone. The current state of research regarding this oxidatively generated lesion as well as its importance in the context of RNA, natural products, and potential as drug derivatives is illustrated using all available examples reported to date.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Jung Choi
- Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado Denver, Science Building, 1151 Arapahoe St., Denver, CO, 80204, USA
| | - Stephanie J Chang
- Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado Denver, Science Building, 1151 Arapahoe St., Denver, CO, 80204, USA
| | - Krzysztof S Gibala
- Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado Denver, Science Building, 1151 Arapahoe St., Denver, CO, 80204, USA
| | - Marino J E Resendiz
- Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado Denver, Science Building, 1151 Arapahoe St., Denver, CO, 80204, USA
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Markov GV, Meyer JM, Panda O, Artyukhin AB, Claaßen M, Witte H, Schroeder FC, Sommer RJ. Functional Conservation and Divergence of daf-22 Paralogs in Pristionchus pacificus Dauer Development. Mol Biol Evol 2016; 33:2506-14. [PMID: 27189572 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msw090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Small-molecule signaling in nematode dauer formation has emerged as a major model to study chemical communication in development and evolution. Developmental arrest as nonfeeding and stress-resistant dauer larvae represents the major survival and dispersal strategy. Detailed studies in Caenorhabditis elegans and Pristionchus pacificus revealed that small-molecule communication changes rapidly in evolution resulting in extreme structural diversity of small-molecule compounds. In C. elegans, a blend of ascarosides constitutes the dauer pheromone, whereas the P. pacificus dauer pheromone includes additional paratosides and integrates building blocks from diverse primary metabolic pathways. Despite this complexity of small-molecule structures and functions, little is known about the biosynthesis of small molecules in nematodes outside C. elegans Here, we show that the genes encoding enzymes of the peroxisomal β-oxidation pathway involved in small-molecule biosynthesis evolve rapidly, including gene duplications and domain switching. The thiolase daf-22, the most downstream factor in C. elegans peroxisomal β-oxidation, has duplicated in P. pacificus, resulting in Ppa-daf-22.1, which still contains the sterol-carrier-protein (SCP) domain that was lost in C. elegans daf-22, and Ppa-daf-22.2. Using the CRISPR/Cas9 system, we induced mutations in both P. pacificus daf-22 genes and identified an unexpected complexity of functional conservation and divergence. Under well-fed conditions, ascaroside biosynthesis proceeds exclusively via Ppa-daf-22.1 In contrast, starvation conditions induce Ppa-daf-22.2 activity, resulting in the production of a specific subset of ascarosides. Gene expression studies indicate a reciprocal up-regulation of both Ppa-daf-22 genes, which is, however, independent of starvation. Thus, our study reveals an unexpected functional complexity of dauer development and evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel V Markov
- Max-Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Spemannstrasse 37, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Jan M Meyer
- Max-Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Spemannstrasse 37, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Oishika Panda
- Boyce Thompson Institute, Cornell University Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University
| | | | - Marc Claaßen
- Max-Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Spemannstrasse 37, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Hanh Witte
- Max-Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Spemannstrasse 37, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Frank C Schroeder
- Boyce Thompson Institute, Cornell University Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University
| | - Ralf J Sommer
- Max-Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Spemannstrasse 37, Tübingen, Germany
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von Reuss SH, Schroeder FC. Combinatorial chemistry in nematodes: modular assembly of primary metabolism-derived building blocks. Nat Prod Rep 2015; 32:994-1006. [PMID: 26059053 PMCID: PMC4884655 DOI: 10.1039/c5np00042d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans was the first animal to have its genome fully sequenced and has become an important model organism for biomedical research. However, like many other animal model systems, its metabolome remained largely uncharacterized, until recent investigations demonstrated the importance of small molecule-based signalling cascades for virtually every aspect of nematode biology. These studies have revealed that nematodes are amazingly skilled chemists: using simple building blocks from conserved primary metabolism and a strategy of modular assembly, C. elegans and other nematode species create complex molecular architectures to regulate their development and behaviour. These nematode-derived modular metabolites (NDMMs) are based on the dideoxysugars ascarylose or paratose, which serve as scaffolds for attachment of moieties from lipid, amino acid, carbohydrate, citrate, and nucleoside metabolism. Mutant screens and comparative metabolomics based on NMR spectroscopy and MS have so-far revealed several 100 different ascarylose ("ascarosides") and a few paratose ("paratosides") derivatives, many of which represent potent signalling molecules that can be active at femtomolar levels, regulating development, behaviour, body shape, and many other life history traits. NDMM biosynthesis appears to be carefully regulated as assembly of different modules proceeds with very high specificity. Preliminary biosynthetic studies have confirmed the primary metabolism origin of some NDMM building blocks, whereas the mechanisms that underlie their highly specific assembly are not understood. Considering their functions and biosynthetic origin, NDMMs represent a new class of natural products that cannot easily be classified as "primary" or "secondary". We believe that the identification of new variants of primary metabolism-derived structures that serve important signalling functions in C. elegans and other nematodes provides a strong incentive for a comprehensive re-analysis of metabolism in higher animals, including humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephan H. von Reuss
- Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Jena, Germany
| | - Frank C. Schroeder
- Boyce Thompson Institute and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
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