Radiation-induced bystander effects have been demonstrated within organisms. Recently, it is found that the organisms can also signal irradiation cues to their co-cultured partners in a waterborne manner. In contrast, there is a limited understanding of radiation-induced airborne signaling between individuals, especially on the aspect of DNA damage responses (DDR). Here, we establish a co-culture experimental system using Caenorhabdis elegans in a top-bottom layout, where communication between "top" and "bottom" worms is airborne. The radiation response of top worms is evaluated using radio-adaptive response (RAR) of embryonic lethality (F1), which reflects an enhancement in repair potential of germ cells to subsequent DNA damage. It is shown that gamma-irradiation of bottom worms alleviates the embryonic lethality of top worms caused by 25 Gy of subsequent gamma-irradiation, i.e. RAR, indicating that a volatile signal might play an essential role in radiation-induced inter-worm communication. The RAR is absent in the top worms impaired in DNA damage checkpoint, nucleotide excision repair, and olfactory sensory neurons, respectively. The induction of RAR is restricted to the mitotic zone of the female germline of hermaphrodites. These results indicate that the top worms sense the volatile signal through cephalic sensory neurons, and the neural stimulation distantly modulates the DDR in germ mitotic cells, leading to the enhancement of DNA damage repair potential. The volatile signal is produced specifically by the L3-stage bottom worms and functionally distinct from the known sex pheromone. Its production and/or release are regulated by water-soluble ascaroside pheromones in a population-dependent manner.

中文翻译：

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秀丽隐杆线虫生殖细胞中的DNA损伤修复潜能通过来自其照射对象的挥发性信号而增强。

辐射诱发的旁观者效应已在生物体内得到证实。最近，发现生物体还可以以水性方式向其共同培养的伙伴发出辐射提示信号。相反，对辐射诱导的个体之间的空气传播信号的了解有限，尤其是在DNA损伤反应（DDR）方面。在这里，我们使用秀丽隐杆线虫在顶部-底部的布局中建立了共培养实验系统，其中“顶部”和“底部”蠕虫之间的通信是空中传播的。使用胚胎致死率（F1）的放射适应反应（RAR）评估顶级蠕虫的放射反应，这反映了生殖细胞对后续DNA损伤的修复潜能的增强。研究表明，对底线虫进行γ射线辐照可减轻随后的25 Gyγ射线辐照引起的顶线虫的胚胎致死率，即RAR，这表明挥发性信号可能在辐射诱导的线虫间通讯中起重要作用。RAR分别在DNA损伤检查点，核苷酸切除修复和嗅觉感觉神经元受损的顶级蠕虫中不存在。RAR的诱导仅限于雌雄同体的雌性种系的有丝分裂区。这些结果表明，顶部蠕虫通过头感觉神经元感知挥发性信号，并且神经刺激远地调节了生殖有丝分裂细胞中的DDR，从而增强了DNA损伤修复的潜力。挥发性信号是由L3期底部蠕虫专门产生的，其功能与已知的性信息素不同。它的产生和/或释放受水溶性a虫苷信息素以种群依赖性方式调节。