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Changes to social feeding behaviors are not sufficient for fitness gains of the Caenorhabditis elegans N2 reference strain

The standard reference Caenorhabditis elegans strain, N2, has evolved marked behavioral changes in social feeding behavior since its isolation from the wild. We show that the causal, laboratory-derived mutations in two genes, npr-1 and glb-5, confer large fitness advantages in standard laboratory co...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Zhao, Yuehui, Long, Lijiang, Xu, Wen, Campbell, Richard F, Large, Edward E, Greene, Joshua S, McGrath, Patrick T
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6224195/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30328811
http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.38675
Descripción
Sumario:The standard reference Caenorhabditis elegans strain, N2, has evolved marked behavioral changes in social feeding behavior since its isolation from the wild. We show that the causal, laboratory-derived mutations in two genes, npr-1 and glb-5, confer large fitness advantages in standard laboratory conditions. Using environmental manipulations that suppress social/solitary behavior differences, we show the fitness advantages of the derived alleles remained unchanged, suggesting selection on these alleles acted through pleiotropic traits. Transcriptomics, developmental timing, and food consumption assays showed that N2 animals mature faster, produce more sperm, and consume more food than a strain containing ancestral alleles of these genes regardless of behavioral strategies. Our data suggest that the pleiotropic effects of glb-5 and npr-1 are a consequence of changes to O(2) -sensing neurons that regulate both aerotaxis and energy homeostasis. Our results demonstrate how pleiotropy can lead to profound behavioral changes in a popular laboratory model.