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Perez MF, Shamalnasab M, Mata-Cabana A, Della Valle S, Olmedo M, Francesconi M, Lehner B. Neuronal perception of the social environment generates an inherited memory that controls the development and generation time of C. elegans. Curr Biol 2021; 31:4256-4268.e7. [PMID: 34358445 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.07.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2021] [Revised: 06/29/2021] [Accepted: 07/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
An old and controversial question in biology is whether information perceived by the nervous system of an animal can "cross the Weismann barrier" to alter the phenotypes and fitness of their progeny. Here, we show that such intergenerational transmission of sensory information occurs in the model organism, C. elegans, with a major effect on fitness. Specifically, that perception of social pheromones by chemosensory neurons controls the post-embryonic timing of the development of one tissue, the germline, relative to others in the progeny of an animal. Neuronal perception of the social environment thus intergenerationally controls the generation time of this animal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcos Francisco Perez
- Systems Biology Program, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Dr. Aiguader 88, Barcelona 08003, Spain
| | - Mehrnaz Shamalnasab
- Université de Lyon, ENS de Lyon, Université de Claude Bernard, CNRS UMR 5239, INSERM U1210, Laboratory of Biology and Modelling of the Cell, 46 Allée d'Italie, Site Jacques Monod, 69007 Lyon, France
| | - Alejandro Mata-Cabana
- Departamento de Genética, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain
| | - Simona Della Valle
- Systems Biology Program, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Dr. Aiguader 88, Barcelona 08003, Spain
| | - María Olmedo
- Departamento de Genética, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain
| | - Mirko Francesconi
- Université de Lyon, ENS de Lyon, Université de Claude Bernard, CNRS UMR 5239, INSERM U1210, Laboratory of Biology and Modelling of the Cell, 46 Allée d'Italie, Site Jacques Monod, 69007 Lyon, France.
| | - Ben Lehner
- Systems Biology Program, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Dr. Aiguader 88, Barcelona 08003, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Pg. Lluis Companys 23, Barcelona 08010, Spain.
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