TMC-1 attenuates C. elegans development and sexual behaviour in a chemically defined food environment.

Liusuo Zhang,Paola Correa,L Rene Garcia,Changhoon Jee,Xiaoyan Guo,Daisy G Gualberto

doi:10.1038/ncomms7345

Liusuo Zhang, Paola Correa + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms7345

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Abstract

Although diet affects growth and behaviour, the adaptive mechanisms that coordinate these processes in non-optimal food sources are unclear. Here we show that the C. elegans tmc-1 channel, which is homologous to the mammalian tmc deafness genes, attenuates development and inhibits sexual behaviour in non-optimal food, the synthetic CeMM medium. In CeMM medium, signalling from the pharyngeal MC neurons and body wall muscles slows larval development. However, in the non-standard diet, mutation in tmc-1 accelerates development, by impairing the excitability of these cells. The tmc-1 larva can immediately generate ATP when fed CeMM, and their fast development requires insulin signalling. Our findings suggest that the tmc-1 channel indirectly affects metabolism in wild-type animals. In addition to regulating the development, we show that mutating tmc-1 can relax diet-induced inhibition of male sexual behaviour, thus indicating that a single regulator can be genetically modified to promote growth rate and reproductive success in new environments.

Highlights

Diet affects growth and behaviour, the adaptive mechanisms that coordinate these processes in non-optimal food sources are unclear
We screened for EMS-generated mutants that developed the fastest on C. elegans maintenance medium (CeMM), and identified the rg1003 allele, which allowed 90% of larvae to develop into adults by 5 d.p.h. (Fig. 1b)
When we examined the CeMM-fed animals’ developmental stages, we observed that tmc1(rg1003) mutants developed into L3 larvae on day 3 and into L4 larvae on day 4 post hatching, whereas the wild type remained as L1 larvae during this period (Supplementary Fig. 3)

Summary

Introduction

Diet affects growth and behaviour, the adaptive mechanisms that coordinate these processes in non-optimal food sources are unclear. In addition to regulating the development, we show that mutating tmc-1 can relax diet-induced inhibition of male sexual behaviour, indicating that a single regulator can be genetically modified to promote growth rate and reproductive success in new environments. C. elegans maintenance medium (CeMM) was developed as an axenic chemically defined food source[9,10], which exclude variables associated with bacterial metabolism[10,11]. CeMM has glucose, vitamins, salts, amino acids, nucleic acids and other factors, animals develop slower and males mate poorly[10,12] This food is either missing components or is hard to utilize, making it a suboptimal food source for wild-type C. elegans. We show that multiple character traits, required for adapting to changing environmental circumstances, can be promoted through one gene mutation

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