TY - JOUR
T1 - Caenorhabditis elegans star formation and negative chemotaxis induced by infection with corynebacteria
AU - Antunes, Camila Azevedo
AU - Clark, Laura
AU - Wanuske, Marie Therès
AU - Hacker, Elena
AU - Ott, Lisa
AU - Simpson-Louredo, Liliane
AU - de Luna, Maria das Gracas
AU - Hirata, Raphael
AU - Mattos-Guaraldi, Ana Luíza
AU - Hodgkin, Jonathan
AU - Burkovski, Andreas
PY - 2016/1/1
Y1 - 2016/1/1
N2 - Caenorhabditis elegans is one of the major model systems in biology based on advantageous properties such as short life span, transparency, genetic tractability and ease of culture using an Escherichia coli diet. In its natural habitat, compost and rotting plant material, this nematode lives on bacteria. However, C. elegans is a predator of bacteria, but can also be infected by nematopathogenic coryneform bacteria such Microbacterium and Leucobacter species, which display intriguing and diverse modes of pathogenicity. Depending on the nematode pathogen, aggregates of worms, termed worm-stars, can be formed, or severe rectal swelling, so-called Dar formation, can be induced. Using the human and animal pathogens Corynebacterium diphtheriae and Corynebacterium ulcerans as well as the non-pathogenic species Corynebacterium glutamicum, we show that these coryneform bacteria can also induce star formation slowly in worms, as well as a severe tail-swelling phenotype. While C. glutamicum had a significant, but minor influence on survival of C. elegans, nematodes were killed after infection with C. diphtheriae and C. ulcerans. The two pathogenic species were avoided by the nematodes and induced aversive learning in C. elegans.
AB - Caenorhabditis elegans is one of the major model systems in biology based on advantageous properties such as short life span, transparency, genetic tractability and ease of culture using an Escherichia coli diet. In its natural habitat, compost and rotting plant material, this nematode lives on bacteria. However, C. elegans is a predator of bacteria, but can also be infected by nematopathogenic coryneform bacteria such Microbacterium and Leucobacter species, which display intriguing and diverse modes of pathogenicity. Depending on the nematode pathogen, aggregates of worms, termed worm-stars, can be formed, or severe rectal swelling, so-called Dar formation, can be induced. Using the human and animal pathogens Corynebacterium diphtheriae and Corynebacterium ulcerans as well as the non-pathogenic species Corynebacterium glutamicum, we show that these coryneform bacteria can also induce star formation slowly in worms, as well as a severe tail-swelling phenotype. While C. glutamicum had a significant, but minor influence on survival of C. elegans, nematodes were killed after infection with C. diphtheriae and C. ulcerans. The two pathogenic species were avoided by the nematodes and induced aversive learning in C. elegans.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84957398813&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1099/mic.0.000201
DO - 10.1099/mic.0.000201
M3 - Article
C2 - 26490043
AN - SCOPUS:84957398813
SN - 1350-0872
VL - 162
SP - 84
EP - 93
JO - Microbiology (United Kingdom)
JF - Microbiology (United Kingdom)
IS - 1
ER -