A potent dauer pheromone component in Caenorhabditis elegans that acts synergistically with other components.

ABSTRACT: In the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans, the dauer pheromone is the primary cue for entry into the developmentally arrested, dauer larval stage. The dauer is specialized for survival under harsh environmental conditions and is considered "nonaging" because larvae that exit dauer have a normal life span. C. elegans constitutively secretes the dauer pheromone into its environment, enabling it to sense its population density. Several components of the dauer pheromone have been identified as derivatives of the dideoxy sugar ascarylose, but additional unidentified components of the dauer pheromone contribute to its activity. Here, we show that an ascaroside with a 3-hydroxypropionate side chain is a highly potent component of the dauer pheromone that acts synergistically with previously id

SUBMITTER: Butcher RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2567175 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature