| Title: | Identification of attractive odorants released by preferred bacterial food found in the natural habitats of C. elegans |
| Author(s): | Worthy SE; Haynes L; Chambers M; Bethune D; Kan E; Chung K; Ota R; Taylor CJ; Glater EE; |
| Address: | "Department of Chemistry, Pomona College, Claremont, California, United States of America. Department of Biology, Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, California, United States of America. Department of Neuroscience, Pomona College, Claremont, California, United States of America" |
| DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0201158 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1932-6203 (Electronic) 1932-6203 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Food choice is critical for survival because organisms must choose food that is edible and nutritious and avoid pathogenic food. Many organisms, including the nematode C. elegans, use olfaction to detect and distinguish among food sources. C. elegans exhibits innate preferences for the odors of different bacterial species. However, little is known about the preferences of C. elegans for bacterial strains isolated from their natural environment as well as the attractive volatile compounds released by preferred natural bacteria isolates. We tested food odor preferences of C. elegans for non-pathogenic bacteria found in their natural habitats. We found that C. elegans showed a preference for the odor of six of the eight tested bacterial isolates over its standard food source, E. coli HB101. Using solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, we found that four of six attractive bacterial isolates (Alcaligenes sp. JUb4, Providenica sp. JUb5, Providencia sp. JUb39, and Flavobacteria sp. JUb43) released isoamyl alcohol, a well-studied C. elegans attractant, while both non-attractive isolates (Raoultella sp. JUb38 and Acinetobacter sp. JUb68) released very low or non-detectable amounts of isoamyl alcohol. In conclusion, we find that isoamyl alcohol is likely an ethologically relevant odor that is released by some attractive bacterial isolates in the natural environment of C. elegans" |
| Keywords: | Animals Bacteria/*chemistry *Caenorhabditis elegans Choice Behavior *Ecosystem *Food Preferences Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry *Odorants Pentanols Physical Stimulation Predatory Behavior Volatile Organic Compounds;neuroscience; |
| Notes: | "MedlineWorthy, Soleil E Haynes, Lillian Chambers, Melissa Bethune, Danika Kan, Emily Chung, Kevin Ota, Ryan Taylor, Charles J Glater, Elizabeth E eng HHMI/Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2018/07/24 PLoS One. 2018 Jul 23; 13(7):e0201158. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0201158. eCollection 2018" |
