Susceptibility of Caenorhabditis elegans to Burkholderia infection depends on prior diet and secreted bacterial attractants.

ABSTRACT: The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans may be killed by certain pathogenic bacteria and thus is a model organism for studying interactions between bacteria and animal hosts. However, growing nematodes on prey bacteria may influence their susceptibility to potential pathogens. A method of axenic nematode culture was developed to isolate and quantify interactions between C. elegans and potentially pathogenic strains of the Burkholderia cepacia complex. Studying these dynamics in liquid solution rather than on agar surfaces minimized nematode avoidance behavior and resolved more differences among isolates. Most isolates of B. cenocepacia, B. ambifaria and B. cepacia caused 60-80% mortality of nematodes after 7 days, whereas isolates of B. multivorans caused less mortality (<25%) and supported ne

SUBMITTER: Cooper VS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2776534 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature