Neuronal and non-neuronal signals regulate Caernorhabditis elegans avoidance of contaminated food

Anderson, Alexandra and McMullan, Rachel (2018). Neuronal and non-neuronal signals regulate Caernorhabditis elegans avoidance of contaminated food. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 373(1751), article no. 20170255.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0255

Abstract

One way in which animals minimise the risk of infection is to reduce their contact with contaminated food. Here we establish a model of pathogen-contaminated food avoidance using the nematode worm Caernorhabditis elegans. We find that avoidance of pathogen-contaminated food protects C. elegans from the deleterious effects of infection and, using genetic approaches, demonstrate that multiple sensory neurons are required for this avoidance behaviour. In addition, our results reveal that avoidance of contaminated food requires bacterial adherence to non-neuronal cells in the tail of C. elegans that are also required for the cellular immune response. Previous studies in C. elegans have contributed significantly to our understanding of molecular and cellular basis of host-pathogen interactions and our model provides a unique opportunity to gain basic insights into how animals avoid contaminated food.

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