Molecular clock that helps some animals shed their skin identified

(Image: Pixabay CC0) - Shrimps, flies and other animals shed their outer body covering at specific times of the year or at specific points in their life cycles through a process called molting. Working in worms, FMI researchers identified the mechanisms underlying a molecular 'molting clock' — as well as several of the clock's components. The findings may help to shed light onto skin development and regeneration in other animals, including mammals. Caenorhabditis elegans , a nematode worm and one of the most-studied organisms in the lab, molts as it moves through four larval stages. Scientists have known that the molting cycle of C. elegans is coupled to the rhythmic expression of thousands of genes, but the components of this molecular clock have remained elusive. Researchers in the lab of Helge Grosshans found that, during C. elegans molting, the periodic patterns of gene expression rely on rhythmic transcription — the process of copying a segment of DNA into RNA. The researchers also identified several components of the molting clock.