C. elegans discriminates colors to guide foraging
Author(s)
Ghosh, D. Dipon; Lee, Dongyeop; Jin, Xin; Horvitz, Howard Robert; Nitabach, Michael N.
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Color detection is used by animals of diverse phyla to navigate colorful natural environments and is thought to require evolutionarily conserved opsin photoreceptor genes. We report that Caenorhabditis elegans roundworms can discriminate between colors despite the fact that they lack eyes and opsins. Specifically, we found that white light guides C. elegans foraging decisions away from a blue-pigment toxin secreted by harmful bacteria. These foraging decisions are guided by specific blue-to-amber ratios of light. The color specificity of color-dependent foraging varies notably among wild C. elegans strains, which indicates that color discrimination is ecologically important. We identified two evolutionarily conserved cellular stress response genes required for opsin-independent, color-dependent foraging by C. elegans, and we speculate that cellular stress response pathways can mediate spectral discrimination by photosensitive cells and organisms—even by those lacking opsins.
Date issued
2021-03Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of BiologyJournal
Science
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Citation
Ghosh, D. Dipon et al. "C. elegans discriminates colors to guide foraging." Science 371, 6533 (March 2021): 1059-1063. © 2021 The American Association for the Advancement of Science
Version: Author's final manuscript
ISSN
0036-8075
1095-9203