A Modular Library of Small Molecule Signals Regulates Social Behaviors in Caenorhabditis elegans
Figure 2
Indole ascarosides attract C. elegans hermaphrodites and males.
(A) Schematic representation of the bioassay used to measure attraction behavior in worms. Zone A is the region where the sample or control solution is applied. The red X denotes the initial position of the assayed worms. (B) Schematic representation of a quadrant chemotaxis assay. A red X denotes the spot where washed worms are placed at the beginning of the assay. The shaded regions of the quadrant plate indicate the agar containing the chemical, whereas the white regions denote control agar. The number of animals in each quadrant was counted after 30 min and a chemotaxis index was computed (see Materials and Methods). The chemotaxis index for the schematic is 0.84. (C) icas#1, icas#3, and icas#9 are attractive to both C. elegans sexes. All three compounds were assayed at 1 pmol using N2 hermaphrodites and him-5 males. Open bars: no compound (solvent vehicle) controls. (D) Dose dependence of icas#3 response for N2 hermaphrodites and him-5 males in the spot attraction assay (*p<0.01, **p<0.001, ***p<0.0001, unpaired t test with Welch's correction). (E) Dose dependence of icas#3 attraction for N2 hermaphrodites in the quadrant chemotaxis assay (one-factor ANOVA with Dunnett's post-test, **p<0.01).