Transgenerational diapause as an avoidance strategy against bacterial pathogens in Caenorhabditis elegans

Abstract

The dynamic response of organisms exposed to environmental pathogens determines their survival or demise, and the outcome of this interaction depends on the host’s susceptibility and pathogen-dependent virulence factors. The transmission of acquired information about the nature of a pathogen to progeny may ensure effective defensive strategies for the progeny’s survival in adverse environments. Environmental RNA interference (RNAi) is a systemic and heritable mechanism and has recently been linked to antibacterial and antifungal defenses in both plants and animals. Here, we report that the second generation of Caenorhabditis elegans living on pathogenic bacteria can avoid bacterial infection by entering diapause in an RNAi pathway-dependent mechanism. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the information encoding this survival strategy is transgenerationally transmitted to the progeny via the maternal germ line.