Specific sensory neurons and insulin-like peptides modulate food type-dependent oogenesis and fertilization in Caenorhabditis elegans

TY - JOUR

T1 - Specific sensory neurons and insulin-like peptides modulate food type-dependent oogenesis and fertilization in Caenorhabditis elegans

AU - Mishra, Shashwat

AU - Dabaja, Mohamed

AU - Akhlaq, Asra

AU - Pereira, Bianca

AU - Marbach, Kelsey

AU - Rovcanin, Mediha

AU - Chandra, Rashmi

AU - Caballero Reyes, Antonio

AU - Fernandes de Abreu, Diana

AU - Ch'ng, QueeLim

AU - Alcedo, Joy

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - An animal's responses to environmental cues are critical for its reproductive program. Thus, a mechanism that allows the animal to sense and adjust to its environment should make for a more efficient reproductive physiology. Here, we demonstrate that in Caenorhabditis elegans specific sensory neurons influence onset of oogenesis through insulin signaling in response to food-derived cues. The chemosensory neurons ASJ modulate oogenesis onset through the insulin-like peptide (ILP) INS-6. In contrast, other sensory neurons, the olfactory neurons AWA, regulate food type-dependent differences in C. elegans fertilization rates, but not onset of oogenesis. AWA modulates fertilization rates at least partly in parallel to insulin receptor signaling, since the insulin receptor DAF-2 regulates fertilization independently of food type, which requires ILPs other than INS-6. Together our findings suggest that optimal reproduction requires the integration of diverse food-derived inputs through multiple neuronal signals acting on the C. elegans germline.

AB - An animal's responses to environmental cues are critical for its reproductive program. Thus, a mechanism that allows the animal to sense and adjust to its environment should make for a more efficient reproductive physiology. Here, we demonstrate that in Caenorhabditis elegans specific sensory neurons influence onset of oogenesis through insulin signaling in response to food-derived cues. The chemosensory neurons ASJ modulate oogenesis onset through the insulin-like peptide (ILP) INS-6. In contrast, other sensory neurons, the olfactory neurons AWA, regulate food type-dependent differences in C. elegans fertilization rates, but not onset of oogenesis. AWA modulates fertilization rates at least partly in parallel to insulin receptor signaling, since the insulin receptor DAF-2 regulates fertilization independently of food type, which requires ILPs other than INS-6. Together our findings suggest that optimal reproduction requires the integration of diverse food-derived inputs through multiple neuronal signals acting on the C. elegans germline.

U2 - 10.7554/eLife.83224

DO - 10.7554/eLife.83224

M3 - Article

SN - 2050-084X

JO - eLife

JF - eLife

ER -