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C. elegans “reads” bacterial non-coding RNAs to learn pathogenic avoidance

View ORCID ProfileRachel Kaletsky, View ORCID ProfileRebecca S. Moore, View ORCID ProfileGeoffrey D. Vrla, View ORCID ProfileLance L. Parsons, View ORCID ProfileZemer Gitai, View ORCID ProfileColeen T. Murphy
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.01.26.920322
Rachel Kaletsky
Department of Molecular BiologyLSI Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton NJ 08544
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Rebecca S. Moore
Department of Molecular Biology
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Geoffrey D. Vrla
Department of Molecular Biology
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Lance L. Parsons
LSI Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton NJ 08544
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Zemer Gitai
Department of Molecular Biology
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Coleen T. Murphy
Department of Molecular BiologyLSI Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton NJ 08544
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  • For correspondence: ctmurphy@princeton.edu
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Abstract

C. elegans is exposed to many different bacteria in its environment, and must distinguish pathogenic from nutritious bacterial food sources. Here, we show that a single exposure to purified small RNAs isolated from pathogenic Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA14) is sufficient to induce pathogen avoidance, both in the treated animals and in four subsequent generations of progeny. The RNA interference and piRNA pathways, the germline, and the ASI neuron are required for bacterial small RNA-induced avoidance behavior and transgenerational inheritance. A single non-coding RNA, P11, is both necessary and sufficient to convey learned avoidance of PA14, and its C. elegans target, maco-1, is required for avoidance. A natural microbiome Pseudomonas isolate, GRb0427, can induce avoidance via its small RNAs, and the wild C. elegans strain JU1580 responds similarly to bacterial sRNA. Our results suggest that this ncRNA-dependent mechanism evolved to survey the worm’s microbial environment, use this information to make appropriate behavioral decisions, and pass this information on to its progeny.

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Posted January 27, 2020.
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C. elegans “reads” bacterial non-coding RNAs to learn pathogenic avoidance
Rachel Kaletsky, Rebecca S. Moore, Geoffrey D. Vrla, Lance L. Parsons, Zemer Gitai, Coleen T. Murphy
bioRxiv 2020.01.26.920322; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.01.26.920322
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C. elegans “reads” bacterial non-coding RNAs to learn pathogenic avoidance
Rachel Kaletsky, Rebecca S. Moore, Geoffrey D. Vrla, Lance L. Parsons, Zemer Gitai, Coleen T. Murphy
bioRxiv 2020.01.26.920322; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.01.26.920322

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