Dopamine signaling regulates predator-driven changes in Caenorhabditis elegans' egg laying behavior.

ABSTRACT: Prey respond to predators by altering their behavior to optimize their own fitness and survival. Specifically, prey are known to avoid predator-occupied territories to reduce their risk of harm or injury to themselves and their progeny. We probe the interactions between Caenorhabditis elegans and its naturally cohabiting predator Pristionchus uniformis to reveal the pathways driving changes in prey behavior. While C. elegans prefers to lay its eggs on a bacteria food lawn, the presence of a predator inside a lawn induces C. elegans to lay more eggs away from that lawn. We confirm that this change in egg laying is in response to bites from predators, rather than to predatory secretions. Moreover, predator-exposed prey continue to lay their eggs away from the dens

SUBMITTER: Pribadi A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10335835 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature