The impact of rearing environment on <i>C. elegans</i>: Phenotypic, transcriptomic and intergenerational responses to 3D enriched habitats.

ABSTRACT: Environmental context profoundly influences organismal biology, yet laboratory studies often rely on simplified conditions that may not fully capture natural phenotypic repertoire. This exploratory study investigated how rearing environment affects various aspects of Caenorhabditis elegans biology by comparing worms cultured in three-dimensional decellularized fruit tissue scaffolds with those raised on standard two-dimensional agar plates. While fat content and feeding rate remained stable across conditions, other life history traits demonstrated varying degrees of plasticity in response to environmental context. We observed that scaffold-grown worms exhibited reduced body size, altered reproductive strategies, and mild enhancements in stress resistance, burrowing ability, swimming

SUBMITTER: Guisnet A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12439878 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature