Pathogenic bacteria modulate pheromone response to promote mating
Pathogens generate ubiquitous selective pressures and host–pathogen interactions alter social behaviours in many animals 1 – 4 . However, very little is known about the neuronal mechanisms underlying pathogen-induced changes in social behaviour. Here we show that in adult Caenorhabditis elegans herm...
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Published in | Nature (London) Vol. 613; no. 7943; pp. 324 - 331 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
London
Nature Publishing Group UK
12.01.2023
Nature Publishing Group |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Pathogens generate ubiquitous selective pressures and host–pathogen interactions alter social behaviours in many animals
1
–
4
. However, very little is known about the neuronal mechanisms underlying pathogen-induced changes in social behaviour. Here we show that in adult
Caenorhabditis elegans
hermaphrodites, exposure to a bacterial pathogen (
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
) modulates sensory responses to pheromones by inducing the expression of the chemoreceptor STR-44 to promote mating. Under standard conditions,
C. elegans
hermaphrodites avoid a mixture of ascaroside pheromones to facilitate dispersal
5
–
13
. We find that exposure to the pathogenic
Pseudomonas
bacteria enables pheromone responses in AWA sensory neurons, which mediate attractive chemotaxis, to suppress the avoidance. Pathogen exposure induces
str-44
expression in AWA neurons, a process regulated by a transcription factor
zip-5
that also displays a pathogen-induced increase in expression in AWA. STR-44 acts as a pheromone receptor and its function in AWA neurons is required for pathogen-induced AWA pheromone response and suppression of pheromone avoidance. Furthermore, we show that
C. elegans
hermaphrodites, which reproduce mainly through self-fertilization, increase the rate of mating with males after pathogen exposure and that this increase requires
str-44
in AWA neurons. Thus, our results uncover a causal mechanism for pathogen-induced social behaviour plasticity, which can promote genetic diversity and facilitate adaptation of the host animals.
Infection of
Caenorhabditis elegans
by
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
causes an increased pheromone response via the pheromone receptor STR-44 and increases mating with males, a potential mechanism for promoting adaptation in the host. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Author contributions. T.W., M.G. and Y.Z. conceived the study and designed the experiments. T.W., M.G., F.D., J.L. and W.Y. performed behavioral assays, calcium imaging and gene expression analysis and analyzed data. T.W., F.D., X.G., and H.L. generated TRAP-RNAseq samples; T.W., M.W., and M.C. analyzed the TRAP-RNAseq data. A.R.D. and R.A.B. generated pheromones for the study. T.W., M.G., C.L., A.L.S. and Y.Z. designed ChIP-qPCR experiments. T.W. and M.G. collected samples for ChIP-qPCR assays, and C.L. and A.L.S. performed ChIP-qPCR and analyzed data. T.W., M.G., M.W., C.L., A.L.S. and Y.Z. wrote the paper. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript. These authors contribute equally. |
ISSN: | 0028-0836 1476-4687 |
DOI: | 10.1038/s41586-022-05561-9 |