Abstract

Parental experience can modulate the behavior of their progeny. While the molecular mechanisms underlying parental effects or inheritance of behavioral traits have been studied under several environmental conditions, it remains largely unexplored how the nature of parental experience affects the information transferred to the next generation. To address this question, we used C. elegans, a nematode that feeds on bacteria in its habitat. Some of these bacteria are pathogenic and the worm learns to avoid them after a brief exposure. We found, unexpectedly, that a short parental experience increased the preference for the pathogen in the progeny. Furthermore, increasing the duration of parental exposure switched the response of the progeny from attraction to avoidance. To characterize the underlying molecular mechanisms, we found that the RNA-dependent RNA Polymerase (RdRP) RRF-3, required for the biogenesis of 26 G endo-siRNAs, regulated both types of intergenerational effects. Together, we show that different parental experiences with the same environmental stimulus generate different effects on the behavior of the progeny through small RNA-mediated regulation of gene expression.

摘要

父母的经验可以调节其后代的行为。虽然已经在多种环境条件下研究了父母影响或行为特征遗传的分子机制，但父母经验的性质如何影响传递给下一代的信息在很大程度上仍未得到探索。为了解决这个问题，我们使用了秀丽隐杆线虫，一种在其栖息地以细菌为食的线虫。其中一些细菌是致病的，蠕虫在短暂接触后学会避开它们。我们意外地发现，短暂的亲代经历增加了后代对病原体的偏好。此外，增加父母暴露的持续时间将后代的反应从吸引转变为回避。为了表征潜在的分子机制，我们发现 26 G 内切 siRNA 的生物发生所需的 RNA 依赖性 RNA 聚合酶 (RdRP) RRF-3 调节两种类型的代际效应。总之，我们表明，通过小 RNA 介导的基因表达调节，对相同环境刺激的不同父母经历对后代的行为产生不同的影响。