IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v4y2013i1d10.1038_ncomms3198.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Dynamic switching between escape and avoidance regimes reduces Caenorhabditis elegans exposure to noxious heat

Author

Listed:
  • Lisa C. Schild

    (University of Fribourg)

  • Dominique A. Glauser

    (University of Fribourg)

Abstract

To survive, animals need to minimize exposure to damaging agents. They can either stay away from noxious stimuli (defined as avoidance), requiring the detection of remote warning cues, or run away upon exposure to noxious stimuli (defined as escape). Here we combine behavioural quantitative analyses, simulations and genetics to determine how Caenorhabditis elegans minimizes exposure to noxious heat when navigating in thermogradients. We find that worms use both escape and avoidance strategies, each involving the modulation of multiple parameters like speed and the frequency of steering and withdrawal behaviours. As some behavioural parameters promote escape while impairing avoidance, and vice versa, worms need to dynamically tune those parameters according to temperature. Furthermore, selectively disrupting avoidance or escape, through mutations affecting neuropeptide or TRPV channel signalling, increases exposure to heat. We conclude that dynamically switching between avoidance and escape regimes along the innocuous-noxious temperature continuum efficiently minimizes exposure to noxious heat.

Suggested Citation

  • Lisa C. Schild & Dominique A. Glauser, 2013. "Dynamic switching between escape and avoidance regimes reduces Caenorhabditis elegans exposure to noxious heat," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 4(1), pages 1-11, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:4:y:2013:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms3198
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms3198
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms3198
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/ncomms3198?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chenxi Lin & Yuxin Shan & Zhongyi Wang & Hui Peng & Rong Li & Pingzhou Wang & Junyan He & Weiwei Shen & Zhengxing Wu & Min Guo, 2024. "Molecular and circuit mechanisms underlying avoidance of rapid cooling stimuli in C. elegans," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-18, December.
    2. Saurabh Thapliyal & Isabel Beets & Dominique A. Glauser, 2023. "Multisite regulation integrates multimodal context in sensory circuits to control persistent behavioral states in C. elegans," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-19, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:4:y:2013:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms3198. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.