Comparative metabolomics reveals biogenesis of ascarosides, a modular library of small-molecule signals in C. elegans.

ABSTRACT: In the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans, a family of endogenous small molecules, the ascarosides function as key regulators of developmental timing and behavior that act upstream of conserved signaling pathways. The ascarosides are based on the dideoxysugar ascarylose, which is linked to fatty-acid-like side chains of varying lengths derived from peroxisomal β-oxidation. Despite the importance of ascarosides for many aspects of C. elegans biology, knowledge of their structures, biosynthesis, and homeostasis remains incomplete. We used an MS/MS-based screen to profile ascarosides in C. elegans wild-type and mutant metabolomes, which revealed a much greater structural diversity of ascaroside derivatives than previously reported. Comparison of the metabolomes from wild-type and a series

SUBMITTER: von Reuss SH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3269134 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature