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- Title
Endogenous RNAi Pathways Are Required in Neurons for Dauer Formation in Caenorhabditis elegans.
- Authors
Bharadwaj, Pallavi S.; Hall, Sarah E.
- Abstract
Animals can adapt to unfavorable environments through changes in physiology or behavior. In the nematode, Caeno-rhabditis elegans, environmental conditions perceived early in development determine whether the animal enters either the repro- ductive cycle, or enters into an alternative diapause stage named dauer. Here, we show that endogenous RNAi pathways play a role in dauer formation in crowding (high pheromone), starvation, and high temperature conditions. Disruption of the Mutator proteins or the nuclear Argonaute CSR-1 result in differential dauer-deficient phenotypes that are dependent upon the experienced environmental stress. We provide evidence that the RNAi pathways function in chemosensory neurons for dauer formation, upstream of the TGF-β and insulin signaling pathways. In addition, we show that Mutator MUT-16 expression in a subset of individual pheromone-sensing neurons is sufficient for dauer formation in high pheromone conditions, but not in starvation or high temperature conditions. Furthermore, we also show that MUT-16 and CSR-1 are required for expression of a subset of G proteins with functions in the detection of pheromone components. Together, our data suggest a model where Mutator-amplified siRNAs that associate with the CSR-1 pathway promote expression of genes required for the detection and signaling of environmental conditions to regulate development and behavior in C. elegans. This study highlights a mechanism whereby RNAi pathways mediate the link between environmental stress and adaptive phenotypic plasticity in animals.
- Subjects
CAENORHABDITIS elegans; PHEROMONES; NEMATODES; NEURONS; INSULIN; PHENOTYPES
- Publication
Genetics, 2017, Vol 205, Issue 4, p1503
- ISSN
0016-6731
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1534/genetics.116.195438