Evidence of a mate-finding cue in the hermaphrodite nematode Caenorhabditis elegans
- Creators
- Simon, Jasper M.
-
Sternberg, Paul W.
Abstract
When males of the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans come into association with their hermaphroditic counterparts they cease foraging behavior and begin to mate. Here we detail several assays used to demonstrate that a diffusible cue is correlated with this process. This cue is sexually dimorphic, given off only by the hermaphrodite and eliciting a response only in the male. Males are attracted to, reverse direction of movement frequently, and remain in regions of agar conditioned with hermaphrodites. From our studies we suggest a form of kinesis that works by attracting males to their mating partners from a distance and functions, once males arrive, in holding attracted males in close proximity. The hermaphrodite vulva is not required for the cue. Males from general sensory mutants osm-5 and osm-6 fail to respond to the cue, whereas male-specific mutants lov-1 and pkd-2 respond. Finally, that males from multiple isolates of C elegans also respond similarly to this cue indicates that this cue is robust and has been maintained during recent evolution.
Additional Information
© 2002 by the National Academy of Sciences. Edited by H. Robert Horvitz, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, and approved December 4, 2001 (received for review May 7, 2001). Published online before print January 29, 2002, 10.1073/pnas.032225799. We thank R. Garcia and N. Moghal for discussions, J. DeModena for experimental suggestions, S. Mukhtar for setting up the video-tracking system, and members of the Sternberg and Benzer laboratories for experimental guidance and reading drafts of our manuscript. The Caenorhabditis Genetics Center provided strains. This work was supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, with which P.W.S. is an investigator. This paper was submitted directly (Track II) to the PNAS office. The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge payment. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. §1734 solely to indicate this fact.Attached Files
Published - SIMpnas02.pdf
Files
| Name | Size | Download all |
|---|---|---|
|
md5:c0b856cce9307b4e342d5fe219e4e740
|
312.9 kB | Preview Download |
Additional details
- PMCID
- PMC122236
- Eprint ID
- 1470
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:SIMpnas02
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)
- Created
-
2006-01-21Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
-
2023-06-01Created from EPrint's last_modified field