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    Interactions with a Complex Microbiota Mediate a Trade-Off between the Host Development Rate and Heat Stress Resistance
    (MDPI, 2020-11-13) Slowinski, Samuel; Ramirez, Isabella; Narayan, Vivek; Somayaji, Medha; Para, Maya; Pi, Sarah; Jadeja, Niharika; Karimzadegan, Siavash; Pees, Barbara; Shapira, Michael
    Animals and plants host diverse communities of microorganisms, and these microbiotas have been shown to influence host life history traits. Much has been said about the benefits that host-associated microbiotas bestow on the host. However, life history traits often demonstrate tradeoffs among one another. Raising Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes in compost microcosms emulating their natural environment, we examined how complex microbiotas affect host life history traits. We show that soil microbes usually increase the host development rate but decrease host resistance to heat stress, suggesting that interactions with complex microbiotas may mediate a tradeoff between host development and stress resistance. What element in these interactions is responsible for these effects is yet unknown, but experiments with live versus dead bacteria suggest that such effects may depend on bacterially provided signals.
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    ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF CAENORHABDITIS BRIGGSAE TRA MUTANTS.
    (2005-12-12) Kelleher, Danielle Fay; Haag, Eric S; Biology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    In order to aid in the reconstruction of the Caenorhabditis briggsae sex determination pathway, for the purposes of studying the convergent evolution of hermaphroditism and mating system change in nematodes, Cb-tra mutants have been isolated through forward mutagenesis. Based on phenotype, genetic linkage, molecular linkage, and in some cases sequence analysis, the C. briggsae homologs of tra-1, tra-2, and possibly tra-3 have been identified. Upon further characterization, the function of the tra genes during sex determination between C. elegans and C. briggsae appears to be largely conserved. However, notable differences, with respect to the role of tra-1 and potentially the role of tra-3, have been observed between these two species. In addition, intra-species suppression of the putative tra-3 mutant (AF16 background) by genomic variants in the wild-type strain HK104 suggests that molecular interactions underlying sex determination are changing between these two C. briggsae populations.