Accelerated hermaphrodite maturation on male pheromones suggests a general principle of coordination between larval behavior and development.

Environment in general and social signals in particular could alter development. In Caenorhabditis elegans, male pheromones hasten development of hermaphrodite larvae. We show that this involves acceleration of growth and both somatic and germline development during the last larval stage (L4).

The roles of TGFβ and serotonin signaling in regulating proliferation of oocyte precursors and germline aging.

The decline of oocyte quality in aging but otherwise relatively healthy individuals compels a search for underlying mechanisms. Building upon a finding that exposure to male pheromone ascr#10 improves oocyte quality in , we uncovered a regulatory cascade that promotes proliferation of oocyte precursors in adults and regulates oocyte quality. We found that the male pheromone promotes proliferation of oocyte precursors by upregulating LAG-2, a ligand of the Notch-like pathway in the germline stem cell niche.

Periods of environmental sensitivity couple larval behavior and development.

The typical life cycle in most animal phyla includes a larval period that bridges embryogenesis and adulthood. Despite the great diversity of larval forms, all larvae grow, acquire adult morphology and function, while navigating their habitats to obtain resources necessary for development. How larval development is coordinated with behavior remains substantially unclear.

A Caenorhabditis elegans Male Pheromone Feminizes Germline Gene Expression in Hermaphrodites and Imposes Life-History Costs.

Sex pheromones not only improve the reproductive success of the recipients, but also impose costs, such as a reduced life span. The underlying mechanisms largely remain to be elucidated. Here, we show that even a brief exposure to physiological amounts of the dominant Caenorhabditis elegans male pheromone, ascr#10, alters the expression of thousands of genes in hermaphrodites.

Serotonergic signaling plays a deeply conserved role in improving oocyte quality.

Declining germline quality is a major cause of reproductive senescence. Potential remedies could be found by studying regulatory pathways that promote germline quality. Several lines of evidence, including a C.

A male pheromone feminizes germline gene expression in hermaphrodites and imposes life-history costs.

Sex pheromones improve reproductive success, but also impose costs. Here we show that even brief exposure to physiological amounts of the dominant male pheromone, ascr#10, alters the expression of thousands of genes in hermaphrodites. The most dramatic effect on the transcriptome was the upregulation of genes expressed during oogenesis and downregulation of genes associated with male gametogenesis.

The serotonin circuit that coordinates germline proliferation and egg laying with other reproductive functions in .

Behaviour and physiology are altered in reproducing animals, but neuronal circuits that regulate these changes remain largely unknown. Insights into mechanisms that regulate and possibly coordinate reproduction-related traits could be gleaned from the study of sex pheromones that can improve the reproductive success of potential mating partners. In , the prominent male pheromone, ascr#10, modifies reproductive behaviour and several aspects of reproductive physiology in hermaphrodite recipients, including improving oocyte quality.

A male pheromone that improves the quality of the oogenic germline.

Pheromones exchanged by conspecifics are a major class of chemical signals that can alter behavior, physiology, and development. In particular, males and females communicate with potential mating partners via sex pheromones to promote reproductive success. Physiological and developmental mechanisms by which pheromones facilitate progeny production remain largely enigmatic.

The roles of several sensory neurons and the feedback from egg laying in regulating the germline response to a sex pheromone in hermaphrodites.

Animals broadcast small molecule pheromones that can alter behavior and physiology in conspecifics. Neuronal circuits that regulate these processes remain largely unknown. In , male-enriched ascaroside sex pheromone ascr#10, in addition to behavioral effects, expands the population of germline precursor cells in hermaphrodites.

ODR-1 acts in AWB neurons to determine the sexual identity of pheromone blends.

Valence of animal pheromone blends can vary due to differences in relative abundance of individual components. For example, in , whether a pheromone blend is perceived as "male" or "hermaphrodite" is determined by the ratio of concentrations of ascr#10 and ascr#3. The neuronal mechanisms that evaluate this ratio are not currently understood.

Inferring temporal organization of postembryonic development from high-content behavioral tracking.

Understanding temporal regulation of development remains an important challenge. Whereas average, species-typical timing of many developmental processes has been established, less is known about inter-individual variability and correlations in timing of specific events. We addressed these questions in the context of postembryonic development in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Dynamic Regulation of Adult-Specific Functions of the Nervous System by Signaling from the Reproductive System.

Unlike juveniles, adult animals engage in suites of behaviors related to the search for and selection of potential mates and mating, including appropriate responses to sex pheromones. As in other species [1], male sex pheromones modulate several behaviors and physiological processes in C. elegans hermaphrodites [2-5].

Coordinated Behavioral and Physiological Responses to a Social Signal Are Regulated by a Shared Neuronal Circuit.

Successful reproduction in animals requires orchestration of behavior and physiological processes. Pheromones can induce both "releaser" (behavioral) and "priming" (physiological) effects [1] in vertebrates [2, 3] and invertebrates [4, 5]. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms underlying pheromone responses could reveal how reproduction-related behaviors and physiology are coordinated.

An excreted small molecule promotes C. elegans reproductive development and aging.

Excreted small-molecule signals can bias developmental trajectories and physiology in diverse animal species. However, the chemical identity of these signals remains largely obscure. Here we report identification of an unusual N-acylated glutamine derivative, nacq#1, that accelerates reproductive development and shortens lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans.

A primer on pheromone signaling in Caenorhabditis elegans for systems biologists.

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Counteracting Ascarosides Act through Distinct Neurons to Determine the Sexual Identity of C. elegans Pheromones.

Sex pheromones facilitate reproduction by attracting potential mates and altering their behavior and physiology. In C. elegans, males and hermaphrodites secrete similar blends of pheromone molecules, two of which are present in different relative concentrations: ascr#3, which is more abundant in hermaphrodites, and ascr#10, which is more abundant in males.

Sexually Antagonistic Male Signals Manipulate Germline and Soma of C. elegans Hermaphrodites.

Males and females pursue different reproductive strategies, which often bring them into conflict-many traits exist that benefit one sex at a cost to another [1]. Decreased female survival following mating dramatically demonstrates one aspect of this phenomenon [2-5]. Particularly intriguing is the evidence that secreted compounds can shorten lifespan of members of the opposite sex in Drosophila [6] and Caenorhabditid nematodes [7] even without copulation taking place.

Experience Modulates the Reproductive Response to Heat Stress in C. elegans via Multiple Physiological Processes.

Natural environments are considerably more variable than laboratory settings and often involve transient exposure to stressful conditions. To fully understand how organisms have evolved to respond to any given stress, prior experience must therefore be considered. We investigated the effects of individual and ancestral experience on C.

Sex Pheromones of C. elegans Males Prime the Female Reproductive System and Ameliorate the Effects of Heat Stress.

Pheromones are secreted molecules that mediate animal communications. These olfactory signals can have substantial effects on physiology and likely play important roles in organismal survival in natural habitats. Here we show that a blend of two ascaroside pheromones produced by C.

Phylum-Level Conservation of Regulatory Information in Nematodes despite Extensive Non-coding Sequence Divergence.

Gene regulatory information guides development and shapes the course of evolution. To test conservation of gene regulation within the phylum Nematoda, we compared the functions of putative cis-regulatory sequences of four sets of orthologs (unc-47, unc-25, mec-3 and elt-2) from distantly-related nematode species. These species, Caenorhabditis elegans, its congeneric C.

Balanced trade-offs between alternative strategies shape the response of C. elegans reproduction to chronic heat stress.

To ensure long-term reproductive success organisms have to cope with harsh environmental extremes. A reproductive strategy that simply maximizes offspring production is likely to be disadvantageous because it could lead to a catastrophic loss of fecundity under unfavorable conditions. To understand how an appropriate balance is achieved, we investigated reproductive performance of C.

Pervasive divergence of transcriptional gene regulation in Caenorhabditis nematodes.

Because there is considerable variation in gene expression even between closely related species, it is clear that gene regulatory mechanisms evolve relatively rapidly. Because primary sequence conservation is an unreliable proxy for functional conservation of cis-regulatory elements, their assessment must be carried out in vivo. We conducted a survey of cis-regulatory conservation between C.

Coevolution within and between regulatory loci can preserve promoter function despite evolutionary rate acceleration.

Phenotypes that appear to be conserved could be maintained not only by strong purifying selection on the underlying genetic systems, but also by stabilizing selection acting via compensatory mutations with balanced effects. Such coevolution has been invoked to explain experimental results, but has rarely been the focus of study. Conserved expression driven by the unc-47 promoters of Caenorhabditis elegans and C.

Comparative studies of gene expression and the evolution of gene regulation.

The hypothesis that differences in gene regulation have an important role in speciation and adaptation is more than 40 years old. With the advent of new sequencing technologies, we are able to characterize and study gene expression levels and associated regulatory mechanisms in a large number of individuals and species at an unprecedented resolution and scale. We have thus gained new insights into the evolutionary pressures that shape gene expression levels and have developed an appreciation for the relative importance of evolutionary changes in different regulatory genetic and epigenetic mechanisms.