bioRxivJClub
Transgenerational pathogen defence extends beyond behavioural avoidance
bioRxiv · · Preprint · Open access
Zwoinska, Widjaja + 11 more
Abstract ↗AI summary
The abstract is read at the publisher; the summary is JClub's.
Ancestral exposure to Pseudomonas vranovensis increases F2 larval survival on the pathogen in Caenorhabditis elegans, C. remanei, and C. tropicalis, even when avoidance is absent in some species.
- Why it matters: Shared pathogen susceptibility does not guarantee similar transgenerational defenses, leaving unclear how general and adaptive transgenerational plasticity is across species and behaviors.
- What they did: Across five Caenorhabditis species, parents were exposed to Pseudomonas vranovensis, and F2 behavior and larval survival on the pathogen were measured; in C. elegans and C. remanei, avoidance or attraction/avoidance shifted across generations.
- The result: Transgenerational pathogen defense can extend beyond behavioral avoidance: in C. tropicalis, F2 survival benefit occurred without behavioral avoidance, and sequence matches between Pv1 and maco-1 were closest in avoidance-linked species.
The findingWhy it mattersWhat they didThe result
- Open access