Nutrient Sensing and Response Drive Developmental Progression in Caenorhabditis elegans

In response to nutrient limitation, many animals, including Caenorhabditis elegans, slow or arrest their development. This process requires mechanisms that sense essential nutrients and induce appropriate responses. When faced with nutrient limitation, C. elegans can induce both short and long‐term...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BioEssays 2020-03, Vol.42 (3), p.e1900194-n/a
Main Authors: Rashid, Sabih, Pho, Kim B., Mesbahi, Hiva, MacNeil, Lesley T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
C. elegans
Caenorhabditis elegans
dauer
developmental arrest
developmental rate
Essential nutrients
Insulin
Nematodes
nutrient sensing
Nutrients
Rapamycin
target of rapamycin
TOR protein
Worms
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Summary:In response to nutrient limitation, many animals, including Caenorhabditis elegans, slow or arrest their development. This process requires mechanisms that sense essential nutrients and induce appropriate responses. When faced with nutrient limitation, C. elegans can induce both short and long‐term survival strategies, including larval arrest, decreased developmental rate, and dauer formation. To select the most advantageous strategy, information from many different sensors must be integrated into signaling pathways, including target of rapamycin (TOR) and insulin, that regulate developmental progression. Here, how nutrient information is sensed and integrated into developmental decisions that determine developmental rate and progression in C. elegans is reviewed. In response to nutrient deficiency, C. elegans can alter its developmental progression—promoting arrest or slowing development when nutrients are insufficient. Molecular mechanisms measure nutrient levels and communicate this information to conserved signaling pathways that promote or restrain development.
ISSN:0265-9247
1521-1878
DOI:10.1002/bies.201900194