« Previous AbstractAlterations in the cell wall of Saccharomyces cerevisiae induced by the alpha sex factor or a mutation in the cell cycle    Next AbstractAsymmetric aldol condensation as a route to polypropionate derived pheromones »

Ecol Evol

Title:		The evolution of plasticity of dauer larva developmental arrest in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans
Author(s):		Diaz SA; Viney M;
Address:		"School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK"
Journal Title:		Ecol Evol
Year:		2015
Volume:		20150302
Issue:		6
Page Number:		1343 - 1353
DOI:		10.1002/ece3.1436
ISSN/ISBN:		2045-7758 (Print) 2045-7758 (Electronic) 2045-7758 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Organisms can end up in unfavourable conditions and to survive this they have evolved various strategies. Some organisms, including nematodes, survive unfavourable conditions by undergoing developmental arrest. The model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has a developmental choice between two larval forms, and it chooses to develop into the arrested dauer larva form in unfavourable conditions (specifically, a lack of food and high population density, indicated by the concentration of a pheromone). Wild C. elegans isolates vary extensively in their dauer larva arrest phenotypes, and this prompts the question of what selective pressures maintain such phenotypic diversity? To investigate this we grew C. elegans in four different environments, consisting of different combinations of cues that can induce dauer larva development: two combinations of food concentration (high and low) in the presence or absence of a dauer larva-inducing pheromone. Five generations of artificial selection of dauer larvae resulted in an overall increase in dauer larva formation in most selection regimes. The presence of pheromone in the environment selected for twice the number of dauer larvae, compared with environments not containing pheromone. Further, only a high food concentration environment containing pheromone increased the plasticity of dauer larva formation. These evolutionary responses also affected the timing of the worms' reproduction. Overall, these results give an insight into the environments that can select for different plasticities of C. elegans dauer larva arrest phenotypes, suggesting that different combinations of environmental cues can select for the diversity of phenotypically plastic responses seen in C. elegans"
Keywords:		C.elegans dauer larvae evolution phenotypic plasticity selection experiment;
Notes:		"PubMed-not-MEDLINEDiaz, S Anaid Viney, Mark eng England 2015/04/11 Ecol Evol. 2015 Mar; 5(6):1343-53. doi: 10.1002/ece3.1436. Epub 2015 Mar 2"