Chemotaxis to microbial and plant-derived chemicals by C. elegans nematodes and its dependence on feeding state
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Throughout history, humans have relied on plants for medication, flavoring, and food, and these plants have also coexisted in ecological communities with other plants, fungi, and animals for millions of years, evolving mechanisms of chemical communication. They release wide arrays of compounds into the environment, affecting animal and microbe behavior. Nematodes, like Caenorhabditis elegans, living in such communities must distinguish harmful from beneficial molecules. In this thesis, I present first a new platform we used to determine the chemotaxis valence of single molecules in C. elegans. In a screen of 90 plant molecules, 37 affected wild-type animals. Analysis of mutants defective in chemosensory ion channels reveals that most compounds relied on multiple ion channels, and chemotaxis valence is more likely to reflect an integration of neural signals than a labeled line. Using this platform, I further examined whether the biosynthetic precursors of natural products could also elicit responses, possibly as a co-evolutionary remnant. Many organisms, including plants and fungi, synthesize the strong attractants isoamyl alcohol and 2-methyl-1-butanol, and, when well-fed, wild-type and mutant nematodes exhibited weak or absent responses to precursor molecules, suggesting that they could be detected but were not particularly motivating. Following prolonged starvation, chemotactic responses were altered in two primary ways: responsiveness decreased to both strong attractants, and a new sensitivity to a precursor compound reliant on OSM-9 TRP channel signaling was revealed. These data also provided additional support for neural signal integration of chemosensory cues. Future studies will be needed to understand how starvation induces these changes in chemosensory behavior and signal integration. Understanding these dynamics sheds light on complex community interactions.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Place | California |
| Place | [Stanford, California] |
| Publisher | [Stanford University] |
| Copyright date | 2024; ©2024 |
| Publication date | 2024; 2024 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Logan-Garbisch, Theresa Ann |
|---|---|
| Degree supervisor | Goodman, Miriam Beth |
| Thesis advisor | Goodman, Miriam Beth |
| Thesis advisor | Clandinin, Thomas R. (Thomas Robert), 1970- |
| Thesis advisor | O'Brien, Lucy Erin, 1970- |
| Thesis advisor | O'Connell, Lauren A |
| Degree committee member | Clandinin, Thomas R. (Thomas Robert), 1970- |
| Degree committee member | O'Brien, Lucy Erin, 1970- |
| Degree committee member | O'Connell, Lauren A |
| Associated with | Stanford University, School of Medicine |
| Associated with | Stanford University, Neurosciences Program |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|---|
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Theresa Logan-Garbisch. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Neurosciences Program. |
| Thesis | Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2024. |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/hw628zn1245 |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2024 by Theresa Ann Logan-Garbisch
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
Also listed in
Loading usage metrics...