| Title: | Population Density Modulates the Duration of Reproduction of C. elegans |
| Author(s): | Wong SS; Yu J; Schroeder FC; Kim DH; |
| Address: | "Division of Infectious Diseases, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Boyce Thompson Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA; Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca 14850, NY, USA. Division of Infectious Diseases, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address: dennis.kim@childrens.harvard.edu" |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.cub.2020.04.056 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1879-0445 (Electronic) 0960-9822 (Print) 0960-9822 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Population density can modulate the developmental trajectory of Caenorhabditis elegans larvae by promoting entry into dauer diapause, which is characterized by metabolic and anatomical remodeling and stress resistance [1, 2]. Genetic analysis of dauer formation has identified the involvement of evolutionarily conserved endocrine signaling pathways, including the DAF-2/insulin-like receptor signaling pathway [3-7]. Chemical and metabolomic analysis of dauer-inducing pheromone has identified a family of small molecules, ascarosides, which act potently to communicate increased population density and promote dauer formation [1, 8-10]. Here, we show that adult animals respond to ascarosides produced under conditions of increased population density by increasing the duration of reproduction. We observe that the ascarosides that promote dauer entry of larvae also act on adult animals to attenuate expression of the insulin peptide INS-6 from the ASI chemosensory neurons, resulting in diminished neuroendocrine insulin signaling that extends the duration of reproduction. Genetic analysis of ins-6 and corresponding insulin-signaling pathway mutants showed that the effect of increased population density on reproductive span was mimicked by ins-6 loss of function that exerted effects on duration of reproduction through the canonical DAF-2-DAF-16 pathway. We further observed that the effect of population density on reproductive span acted through DAF-16-dependent and DAF-16-independent pathways upstream of DAF-12, paralleling in adults what has been observed for the dauer developmental decision of larvae. Our data suggest that, under conditions of increased population density, C. elegans animals prolong the duration of reproductive egg laying, which may enable the subsequent development of progeny under more favorable conditions" |
| Keywords: | Animals Caenorhabditis elegans/*physiology Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins/metabolism Insulin/metabolism Population Density Reproduction Sex Attractants/metabolism Signal Transduction Caenorhabditis elegans insulin neuroendocrine signaling pheromone repro; |
| Notes: | "MedlineWong, Spencer S Yu, Jingfang Schroeder, Frank C Kim, Dennis H eng R01 AT008764/AT/NCCIH NIH HHS/ R01 GM084477/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ R35 GM131877/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ T32 GM007287/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural England 2020/05/23 Curr Biol. 2020 Jul 6; 30(13):2602-2607.e2. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.04.056. Epub 2020 May 21" |
