Flexible reprogramming of Pristionchus pacificus motivation for attacking Caenorhabditis elegans in predator-prey competition.

ABSTRACT: Animals with diverse diets must adapt their food priorities to a wide variety of environmental conditions. This diet optimization problem is especially complex for predators that compete with prey for food. Although predator-prey competition is widespread and ecologically critical, it remains difficult to disentangle predatory and competitive motivations for attacking competing prey. Here, we dissect the foraging decisions of the omnivorous nematode Pristionchus pacificus to reveal that its seemingly failed predatory attempts against Caenorhabditis elegans are actually motivated acts of efficacious territorial aggression. While P. pacificus easily kills and eats larval C. elegans with a single bite, adult C. elegans typically survives and escapes bites. However, non-fatal biting can provid

SUBMITTER: Quach KT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9050875 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature