Work

Pre-dauer starvation rapidly and reversibly reduces niche proliferative signaling to the Caenorhabditis elegans germ line

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Early life stresses impact reproductive outcomes in many organisms. In response to crowding and starvation, Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes diapause as dauer larvae, in which development arrests until conditions improve. We discovered dramatic differences in gonad size and germ cell number among dauers that form under different conditions. We used live cell imaging of fluorescent proteins in otherwise wild-type and mutant animals combined with food-removal, recovery, and brood-size assays to investigate the causes and consequences of germline differences. Pre-dauer feeding, but not nutrient sensing via the DAF-2/insulin-like signaling receptor or DAF-7/TGFβ, is required for plasticity in gonad size. Gonad differences in dauer have lifelong reproductive consequences; severely starved worms make small dauer gonads and have small broods. Pre-dauer starvation induces germline quiescence and near-instantaneous reduction of the Notch ligand LAG-2 on the germline stem cell niche. A rapid return to germline Notch dependence and an increase in presentation by the germline stem cell niche of LAG-2 - independent of lag-2 transcriptional upregulation - are among the earliest events of dauer recovery.

Source: Development

DOI: 10.1242/dev.204972

Authors: Fred A. Koitz, Camille P. Miller, Brian Kinney, Kacy Lynn Gordon

Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Language: English

Topic: Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model Organisms

Subfield: Aging

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Funders: National Institutes of Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, National Institute of General Medical Sciences

Awards: G2516440494, G8640803713, G9000028377, Caenorhabditis Genetics Center