C. elegans aversive olfactory learning generates diverse intergenerational effects.

ABSTRACT: Parental experience can modulate the behavior of their progeny. While the molecular mechanisms underlying parental effects or inheritance of behavioral traits have been studied under several environmental conditions, it remains largely unexplored how the nature of parental experience affects the information transferred to the next generation. To address this question, we used C. elegans, a nematode that feeds on bacteria in its habitat. Some of these bacteria are pathogenic and the worm learns to avoid them after a brief exposure. We found, unexpectedly, that a short parental experience increased the preference for the pathogen in the progeny. Furthermore, increasing the duration of parental exposure switched the response of the progeny from attraction to avoidance. To characterize

SUBMITTER: Pereira AG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8034421 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep-Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature