Abstract
Dauer diapause is a stress-resistant, developmentally quiescent, and long-lived larval stage adopted by Caenorhabditis elegans when conditions are unfavorable for growth and reproduction. This chapter contains methods to induce dauer larva formation, to isolate dauer larvae, and to study pre- and post-dauer stages.
Highlights
The dauer larva is a stress-resistant, developmentally arrested stage formed in response to adverse environmental conditions (Figure 1)
Dauer-promoting environmental cues impact several signal transduction pathways that regulate dauer formation including cGMP, TGFβ, insulin-like, and nuclear hormone receptor pathways. The convergence of these pathways to regulate the dauer formation is reviewed in Dauer; and Fielenbach and Antebi (2008), whereas specific pathways are reviewed in the following WormBook chapters: TGF-β signaling in C. elegans, Insulin/insulin-like growth factor signaling in C. elegans, and Nuclear receptor signal transduction in C. elegans
Entry to L2 essentially commits the larva to continuous development, whereas L2d larvae continue to respond to environmental cues to decide whether to molt into dauer larvae or L3 larvae
Summary
The dauer larva is a stress-resistant, developmentally arrested stage formed in response to adverse environmental conditions (Figure 1). If favorable environmental conditions are again encountered, dauer larvae recover and complete reproductive development. Time spent in the dauer stage does not affect the pattern or sequence of cell divisions during post-dauer development, nor does it shorten the adult lifespan (Klass and Hirsh, 1976; Liu and Ambros, 1991; Euling and Ambros, 1996; Braendle and Félix, 2008). The process and regulation of dauer formation have been extensively studied to learn about signal transduction, neuronal function and remodeling, development, stress resistance, and aging, among other topics. This chapter details methods that are used to study dauer larvae, as well as pre- and post-dauer larvae
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