Multiple Receptors Contribute to the Attractive Response of Caenorhabditis elegans to Pathogenic Bacteria
Wanli Cheng, Hua Xue, Xue Yang, Dian Huang, Minmin Cai, Feng Huang, Longyu Zheng, Donghai Peng, Linda S. Thomashow, David M. Weller, Ziniu Yu, Jibin Zhang
Abstract
Nematodes feed on nontoxic bacteria as a food resource and avoid toxic bacteria; they distinguish them through their volatile metabolites. However, the mechanism of how nematodes recognize bacteria by volatile metabolites is not fully understood. Here, the antinematode bacterium Paenibacillus polymyxa KM2501-1 is found to exhibit an attractive effect on Caenorhabditis elegans via volatile metabolites, including FAc. We further reveal that the attractive response of C. elegans toward FAc requires multiple G-protein-coupled receptors and downstream olfactory signaling cascades in AWA and AWC neurons. This study highlights the important role of volatile metabolites in the interaction between nematodes and bacteria and confirms that multiple G-protein-coupled receptors on different olfactory neurons of C. elegans can jointly sense bacterial volatile signals.